Santo António da Serra (partie)

On a high plateau at 700 m overlooking Machico and Santa Cruz, the small romantic parish shared between the two municipalities (8.65 km² on the Machico side): mountains, abundant exotic vegetation and private quintas give it a rural, intimate atmosphere. At the centre, the Quinta do Santo da Serra — built in the late 19th century by the Blandys, known as Quinta da Junta — is a public park with fallow deer, peacocks, Garrano horses, mini-golf, tennis, a picnic area and a lookout as far as Porto Santo. Next door, the Santo da Serra golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Senior, home of the Madeira Island Open.

The great public park of Santo António da Serra, much loved by families and schools: an English colonial-style quinta built in the late 19th century by the Blandy family, bought in 1975 by the Junta Geral — hence its name Quinta da Junta — and made the official holiday residence of the President of the Regional Government before opening to all. Fallow deer, peacocks and Garrano horses, mini-golf, a tennis court, a picnic area, azaleas and rhododendrons, and a lookout taking in Machico, Ponta de São Lourenço and as far as Porto Santo.