Sé

Built in the mid-18th century on the rock of Ilhéu de São José to defend the sea entrance to Funchal, when the port played a central role in trade. Tradition has it that João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, Madeira's discoverers, sheltered here on arriving at an island covered in forest. During the British occupation of 1801–1807 the fort served as headquarters and then as a prison. Long neglected, it was revitalised by the private owner who bought it. Panoramic view over the Atlantic and the harbour.

The palace that dominates Praça do Município was built in 1758 as the residence of the Count of Carvalhal, passed through several hands and was bought in 1883 by the municipality, which has sat here ever since. Altered but faithful to its original design, it is a harmonious example of late-18th-century architecture. Worth seeing: the landscaped inner courtyard, lined with Battistini tiles made in 1940 at the Maria de Portugal factory, and its fountain with a marble "Leda and the Swan" by Germano José Salles. The City Hall can be visited on weekdays on one-hour guided tours in several languages.

Funchal's Italian-style theatre, on Avenida Arriaga. After the demolition of the Teatro Grande in 1833, Madeirans demanded a new theatre for much of the 19th century; it was opened on 11 March 1888 on the model of Lisbon's São Carlos and Milan's La Scala. Named in turn D. Maria Pia, Dr. Manuel de Arriaga and Teatro Funchalense, in 1935 it took the name of Baltazar Dias, a blind playwright and poet born in Madeira in the 16th century. Decoration and scenery by the Italian Luigi Manini and the Portuguese Eugénio do Nascimento Cotrim. A reference programme on the Portuguese scene; check the bill.

Built in the second half of the 17th century by Pedro Gonçalves Brandão, next to Rua Fernão de Ornelas, one of the capital's busiest streets. A single nave, chancel and bell tower; an 18th-century Rococo façade in grey regional stone. In the chancel, a gilded Mannerist altarpiece with a throne and a painting of the patron saint by the Madeiran carver Manuel Pereira; 18th-century tiles depicting Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Open every day with regular Masses — a chance to attend a Madeiran Mass.

The big seafront esplanade, opened in 2014: on one side the Atlantic, on the other the city climbing towards the mountain. Wide leisure and sports areas for walking, running, cycling or skating, benches for watching the bay, carpets of plants and flowers along the path. Thanks to its size and central position it is the stage for the big open-air events — concerts, exhibitions, fairs — especially in summer.

The liveliest artery of the centre, from Largo da Sé to Rotunda do Infante: begun in 1914, paved with Portuguese calçada, lined with great trees and emblematic cafés. Along it stand the statue of João Gonçalves Zarco, one of the discoverers, the 15th-century cathedral, the Baltazar Dias theatre, the Municipal Garden, the Madeira wine lodges and traditional shops — the natural starting point of any walk in the capital.

In the former Bishop's Palace, founded in 1594 by D. Luís Figueiredo de Lemos, one of the capital's oldest museums shows art from the 15th to the 19th century: painting, sculpture, goldsmithing and gold-embroidered vestments, in two great groups, Portuguese and Flemish art — with Flemish canvases of a size rare in European museums, bought in the sugar era. Among the major pieces: the Água de Pena processional cross (15th century), a 16th-century Antwerp tray and chalice, and the cross given by King Manuel I to the cathedral. On the balcony, an 18th-century tile panel on Faith, Hope and Charity. Guided tours available

The museum Cristiano Ronaldo wanted in his home town, opened on 15 December 2013 on Praça do Mar: 400 m² retracing his path from Andorinha and Nacional (Madeira) to Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, with more than a hundred individual and team trophies — including his four Golden Boots (2007/08, 2010/11, 2013/14, 2014/15) and five Ballons d'Or (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) — photographs, videos, interactive content and a wax statue.

The place where the centuries-old story of Madeira wine is told, on Avenida Arriaga: a group of Baroque civil buildings housing the island's oldest wine cellars, from the 17th and 18th centuries, beside the site of the old São Francisco convent demolished in the 19th century. In 1913 the Madeira Wine Association, now the Madeira Wine Company, was founded here, bringing several houses together. The museum follows the wine's journey from vine to transformation and explains the Sercial, Malvasia, Verdelho and Boal grapes; you visit the ageing rooms and the tasting rooms. Included here as heritage

Madeira's embroidery museum, attached to the Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handicraft Institute, keeps pieces more than 150 years old: embroideries made between the 1860s and 1930s, shown in a recreated romantic 18th- and 19th-century atmosphere with Victorian furniture, mannequins and a reconstructed alcove. A dive into the art that made the island famous. The regional tourism board reports the museum temporarily closed: check before going (tel. +351 291 211 600).

On Praça de Colombo, the museum opened in 1996 brings back Madeira's golden age of sugar, on the memory of João Esmeraldo's Manueline house — where Christopher Columbus stayed. Flemish sculptures and paintings bought with sugar money, sugar moulds, silverware and objects unearthed from the Esmeraldo house recreate the social life of the 15th and 16th centuries, when "white gold" made the island's fortune. Regional Directorate of Culture

The green refuge of the city centre, 8,300 m² on the north side of Avenida Arriaga, facing the municipal theatre, on the site of the former São Francisco convent whose coat of arms is still displayed on a lawn. Laid out in 1880 and named after Portugal's last queen, it gathers species of Madeiran and worldwide flora, with big shade trees, a lake and a stream with fish, ducks and swans, an amphitheatre for cultural events and a café terrace. Free entry.

The oldest chapel in Funchal, with nearly six centuries behind it, in the middle of Santa Catarina Park and its 36,000 m². Its building was ordered by Constança Rodrigues de Almeida, wife of Funchal's first donatary captain, João Gonçalves Zarco. The architecture follows the regional seventeenth-century tradition: a Mannerist portal and a porch on red stonework columns; the holy water font dates from the early sixteenth century. Before the entrance a sculpture honours Prince Henry the Navigator; higher in the garden stands O Semeador, by the Madeiran sculptor Francisco Franco.

A seventeenth-century chapel built by António Dantas, on the edge of Funchal bay. It is one of the few places of worship on the island where mass is said in English, on Sundays at 10 a.m. The Portuguese writer António Feliciano de Castilho lived in the house attached to it. Successive restorations have kept the essentials of the building and its interior.

The capital's port, built in the nineteenth century. Until the Second World War it was a convenient call for the liners crossing the Atlantic between Europe, Africa and America. It now holds a passenger terminal for the hundreds of thousands of cruise passengers each year, two minutes by car from the centre. Madeira was voted Europe's best cruise destination in 2022 by the World Cruise Awards, a distinction that named the port as well.

The city-centre lookout, above Funchal harbour, in Santa Catarina Park opened in 1966 between Avenida do Infante and Avenida Sá Carneiro: 36,000 m² of flowerbeds, trees and shrubs, a large lawn, a terrace and a small pond with an island for the birds. The view takes in the bay and a long stretch of the south coast as far as Ponta do Garajau, in Caniço, where the Cristo Rei stands. In the park, statues of Prince Henry the Navigator and Christopher Columbus, a children's playground and the Santa Catarina chapel. On foot from the marina; no fee shown.

On Avenida do Infante, the historic garden of Quinta Vigia — first called Quinta das Angústias, after its 1662 chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Anguish — welcomed great names of European aristocracy until 1979, when the Regional Government bought it. Restored, it has been the official residence of the President of the Regional Government since 1984. The lookout, among subtropical species and Madeiran flora, overlooks the elegant Funchal bay as far as Garajau. Public opening follows the residence's rules.