Monte

At Terreiro da Luta, in the parish of Monte: the island's largest monument, born of a vow. In 1917, during the First World War, German submarines shelled Funchal twice. Madeirans promised to raise a statue to Our Lady of Monte if peace returned. Ten years later the shrine was inaugurated on 14 August, the day of Nossa Senhora do Monte, to plans by the architect Emanuel Ribeiro, with a five-metre marble statue. Around its base runs a rosary made from the chains of the ships sunk in the attacks.

Above Monte — a parish created in 1565, perched at the top of the slopes that close Funchal's amphitheatre — the Terreiro da Luta gives an open view over the colourful mosaic of the city and, beyond, its bay. The place is also worth it for its monument: the Nossa Senhora da Paz sanctuary, a five-metre marble statue by the architect Emanuel Ribeiro, raised to fulfil the promise made by Madeirans during the shelling of Funchal by German submarines in 1917. A place of memory as much as a viewpoint; no fee shown.

At 563 m, on Largo das Babosas in Monte, this viewpoint makes the most of the wooded slopes above Funchal: below, the João Gomes stream running down to the city, and Curral dos Romeiros. The square was also called Largo de Nossa Senhora da Conceição, after the chapel built here in 1906 and destroyed by the deadly flood of 20 February 2010 that hit the south coast. The viewpoint is a few steps from the cable-car station linking Monte to central Funchal, which makes it the easiest lookout to reach without a car; no fee shown.

Built at about 600 m on Caminho dos Pretos, in the parish of Monte, this viewpoint is surrounded by the trees and vegetation of the south-coast hills. It stands next to the reservoirs built to store water for irrigating the land. Three vivid colours stack up: the dense green of the forest, the houses of the capital and the blue of the Atlantic. You can pick out the João Gomes stream, which flows into the city, and, far to the west, Cabo Girão, the 580 m promontory.

One of the municipality's highest lookouts, at 1,129 m in the heart of the Parque Ecológico do Funchal: almost the whole extent of the city and its bay, with the vastness of the Atlantic behind, and, on the mountain side, Chão da Lagoa. The park was created in 1994 by the City Council for environmental education, nature conservation and leisure; it covers about 10 km² and lends itself to walking and sport. The viewpoint lies on the route of PR 3.1 Caminho Real do Monte, between Ribeira das Cales and Monte, so you reach it on foot — hence the "moderate" grade.

Built in 1939 on the Estrada dos Marmeleiros, 383 m above sea level, in the parish of Monte — the one with the palaces and gardens that give the district its romantic air. The view is open over the whole of Funchal spread across the hillside and over its bay. The viewpoint stands near the Marmeleiros hospital, in service since 1930; shade and benches invite a stop.

Eight square kilometres of mountain run by the city of Funchal, from 470 m where the Ribeiro do Pisão meets the Levada de Santa Luzia up to the 1,818 m of Pico do Areeiro. The Câmara bought the land in 1918 — it was then the Montado do Barreiro — to catch water for the city, and its springs still supply the upper reaches of the parish of Monte. Much of it was bare at the time, and the replanting that followed was meant to make more water; the ecological park proper was set up in 1994, around nature conservation and environmental education. The point here is the reception centre, the way in.