Terceira Island Coast with Ilheus de Cabras and Ponta das Contendas Lighthouse
by Kelly Hazel
Title
Terceira Island Coast with Ilheus de Cabras and Ponta das Contendas Lighthouse
Artist
Kelly Hazel
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
This photograph looks westward over the rocky coastline of Ponta das Contendas on Terceira Island of the Azores region of Portugal. From this place, you can see the lighthouse of Ponta das Contendas, and the Ilheus de Cabras.
Plans for the lighthouse were first made in 1882, but the lighthouse would not actually be built until 1936. It was first planned to be built in Ponta das Contendas, but then planners decided to move the location to Ponta de Sao Jorge, and then they decided to move it back to Ponta das Contendas again. The light is still operational today.
The Ilheus de Cabras were formed from volcanic activity in the Terceira Rift under the Atlantic Ocean. From here, it looks like a single islet, but there are actually two islets, the Ilheu Pequineo (Small islet) and Ilheu Grande (Big Islet). The name Ilheus de Cabras is said to have come from the fact that shepherds used the islets to forage for goats and sheep during the first year Terceira was being settled. Aside from a legend that a young man from Faial Island was banished to live on the islets for 7 years due to his love for the wrong young maiden, it is believed that the islets have never been inhabited. Today, the islets are privately owned, but remain uninhabited.
Throughout the coastlines and many small islets that dot the waters around the Azores, you can see evidence of the volcanic activity that created the islands. Terceira is made from four stratovolcano that overlap one another. Both Monte Brasil by Angra do Heroismo, and the Ilheus de Cabras are offshoots of those volcanos. The black rock that you see link the coast is lava rock from the volcanic eruptions. Atop the rock, the soil is thin, but very rich, creating the perfect environment for cattle grazing, which is the base of economic activity on Terceira.
Uploaded
February 28th, 2017
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