Almagreira (Vila Do Porto) - Geography

Geography

Almagreira is situated in the central southern coast of the island of Santa Maria, limited on the east by the Ribeira do Gato, north-east the regional road dissecting the watersheds of the Ribeira da Praia/Farropo and Ribeira do Salto, north and north-west by the Ribeira de João, Ribeira das Covas and on the west by an escarpment between valley of Valverde and Figueiral. This parish is found within a transitional band from the higher altitude, rugged relief on the eastern coast, and the planar landscape of the western half of the island. The eastern half of the parish is a mountainous zone covered in forests extending to Pico Alto (in the north) and towards Malbusca (in the southeast), passing through Pico das Cavacas (492 metres); it is an area cut by several ravines and substantial watershed on the island. The western portion of the parish extends to its border with Vila do Porto and São Pedro, along a semi-flat plateau broken by a few volcanic cones, such as Pico do Bom Despacho (294 metres) and Pico do Facho (254 metres). This flat plateau area is the broken by walled parcels of agricultural land from Fonte Nova until Touril and Figuerial, and includes large pasturelands in Brejo de Baixo, in an area known as Tremoçal. Tremoçal has been considered for the location of a new Golf Complex, that includes club house, housing and support structures, covering an area of 99.5 hectares of land. Meanwhile, the southern coast fronts a large bay, surrounded by basaltic and sedimentary cliffs (such as Touril or Macela) cut by ravines that disgorge into the ocean. The alluvial drainage from these ravines have, over the centuries, formed white-sand beaches (Praia Grande and Praia Pequeno) in Praia Formosa, which are atypical in the Azores.

Access to communities in Almagreira follow the Estrada Regional E.R. 1-2ª roadway that connects São Pedro and Vila do Porto in the northeast corner, through the built-up area of Almagreira proper, to the foothills around Bom Despacho Velho. This accessway, then intersects in the mountains of Pico Alto, around Cruz dos Picos, before continuing to the border of Espírito Santo (in the eastern border), around Fontinhas. This main road only traverses the northern part of the parish: ancillary roads in Brejo do Baixo and Barreiros connect the isolated coastal village of Praia Formosa, winding down the coastal cliffs of Macela, intersecting Ribeira da Praia and Ribeira do Farropo, before reaching the sea level and then climbing to Barreiros.

The parish includes 14 localities and several isolated dwellings; the most populous area is the parish seat of Almagreira (102 habitants). Since 1911, the population had progressively grown, until 1960, when it began a steady decline. By 1991, the population of Almagreira was equivalente to 38% of the resident population in 1960. As with many of the islands of the archipelago, emigration was the principal cause of this depopulation.