Santana

A chapel set into a large rock, at Fazenda, in the parish of Faial. The main front, facing east and pierced by a round-arched door, is plastered masonry painted white, topped by a Latin cross in red Cabo Girão stone and by a bell tower with a gilded bronze bell. The single nave is cut into the rock itself, giving an irregular barrel roof; inside, a small altar in Mannerist stonework and a holy water font. A chapel is mentioned here as early as the sixteenth century, in a former refuge of Canary Island slaves; the official foundation dates from 1685, the year still carved on the arch of the front. The pilgrimage was restored in 1984.

A 14 m lighthouse set at 271 m of altitude on Ponta de São Jorge, in service since April 1959 though designed as early as 1948. The ribbed cylindrical tower is backed by an adjoining building. It first held a large-model third-order drum dioptric lens (500 mm focal length) and a gas filament lamp; connected to the public electricity grid in 1962, it ran on gas and electricity, then received 12 V / 100 W halogen lamps in 1995 giving it a range of 15 miles. It remotely controls the São Lourenço lighthouse, at the island's other end.

The largest Baroque church in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, built in the seventeenth century in the parish of São Jorge. Its main front faces north and its window arrangement is unusual in the regional typology: the portal is topped by three sill windows and, in the tympanum, by another window flanked by pilasters carrying a straight cornice. The longitudinal plan holds a single nave and a lower, narrower chancel, with a square bell tower. At the head of the nave, the presbytery is marked by a rosewood balustrade curving at the sides; the altarpieces are in Joanine gilded carving, and there are paintings on canvas.

In Santana, this lookout overlooks the Atlantic and the Rocha do Navio Nature Reserve, named after a Dutch ship wrecked here in the 19th century. An exclusively marine reserve, bounded by Ponta do Clérigo and Ponta de São Jorge, it includes Ilhéu da Viúva (94 m), a rich botanical heritage of the Natura 2000 network with plants of the Macaronesian cliffs, some found only in the archipelago, and Ilhéu da Rocha das Vinhas. A steep path cut into the rock drops from the lookout to the fajã; a cable car also goes down.

On the ER 103, in the parish of São Roque do Faial, the Ribeiro Frio lookout overhangs the site of the same name, in the heart of the northern Laurissilva: laurel, folhado, til, vinhático. Frequent fog gives the landscape its enigmatic aura. It is the starting point of PR 10 Levada do Furado and PR 11 Vereda dos Balcões, where you meet the Madeira firecrest, the Madeiran chaffinch and, more rarely, the trocaz pigeon.

On one of the slopes at the mouth of the Ribeira do Faial, in Santana, Guindaste offers one of the north coast's most complete panoramas: the pebble beach of Foz da Ribeira do Faial and, right beside it, a prismatic or columnar jointing born of lava flows; then the whole coast from Faial to Ponta de São Lourenço, past the mass of Penha d'Águia; with very good visibility, Porto Santo to the north-east.

The balcony over the Ribeira da Metade valley, a picture of monumental proportions dominated by the greens of the Laurissilva; on clear days, the central massif with Pico do Areeiro, Pico das Torres and Pico Ruivo, and Penha d'Águia. You reach it by the Vereda dos Balcões (PR 11), 1.5 km almost flat from Ribeiro Frio along the Levada da Serra do Faial — access €4.50 with SIMplifica booking — among endemic laurels (laurel, til, vinhático, folhado) and exotic broadleaves such as oak and plane. The endemic chaffinches readily come close to visitors. The lookout itself has no fee.

A few metres from the start of the Vereda do Areeiro (PR 1), next to the Pousada do Pico do Areeiro, this lookout is named after the buzzard (Buteo buteo, the "manta") said to have nested here. It reveals the parish of São Roque do Faial and the Fajã da Nogueira valley, nesting place of the Manx shearwater, and part of the central range, with rock formations that often rise out of the clouds. This is also where Zino's petrel, Europe's most endangered seabird, nests. A compulsory stop for hikers setting off towards Pico das Torres (1,851 m) and Pico Ruivo (1,862 m).

On the Achada do Gramacho cliff, within the grounds of the Quinta do Furão hotel, this lookout overlooks the jagged profile of the north-east coast and its cliffs. At the centre of the picture, Ilhéu da Viúva (94 m), a botanical refuge for several plants found only in the archipelago, a Natura 2000 site and part of the Rocha do Navio Nature Reserve. The hotel's gardens and traditional vineyards live alongside untouched nature.

At Arco de São Jorge, in the municipality of Santana, Cabo Aéreo takes its name from the still-visible cable that helped farmers and fishermen lower their goods — the sugar cane grown here left this way by sea for the mills. Jagged cliffs, greenery and deep sea make up one of the north coast's most striking views; you can pick out Calhau de São Jorge, a secluded beach with its small freshwater lagoon, and the ruins of the parish's original settlement, old sugar mills from the early days of colonisation. Picnic area on site.

A watch post turned viewpoint: at São Jorge, the Vigia was once used to spot the great cetaceans — it was a privileged whale-sighting spot. The view runs along the north-west coast, from Arco de São Jorge, a village known for the fertility of its soils thanks to its microclimate, to Porto Moniz and its volcanic pools, past Ponta Delgada with its small amphitheatre facing the sea and Seixal, ringed by green mountains. With good visibility, Porto Santo.

Between São Jorge and Arco de São Jorge, at 469 m, Beira da Quinta is a compulsory stop in the municipality of Santana: a view of Arco de São Jorge, famous for the fertility of its land, and of almost the whole north-west coast to Porto Moniz, with monumental cliffs reaching about 500 m. On clear days the silhouette of Porto Santo floats to the north-east.

A natural viewpoint clinging to a slope of the Ribeira de São Jorge, in the parish of the same name. The view takes in the mountains that surround Ilha, Santana and São Jorge, with the Atlantic behind. As it stands at the mouth of the stream, part of the São Jorge bathing complex is also visible: a pebble beach, a small freshwater lagoon 5 m deep, three pools and a restaurant.

On the Estrada Regional 103, at Cruzinhas, in an elevated part of the parish of Faial. The eye drops into the upper valley of Ribeira Seca, carpeted with untouched Laurissilva; on clear days the highest peaks close the horizon. The agricultural terraces typical of the Madeiran countryside are also visible.

Beside the cemetery of São Roque do Faial, one of the most open panoramas in the municipality of Santana over the north coast. Mountains in the foreground; further off, the centre of the parish and Penha d'Águia, a rock formation about 600 m high that divides Santana from Machico. The small parish lies at the foot of the central massif, between Ribeira da Metade and Ribeira do Castelejo.

On the road climbing to Achada do Teixeira, just past Picarouto, at the forks of the Santana mountains. The view runs along much of the east coast, from the parish of São Jorge to Ponta de São Lourenço, the island's eastern tip; on clear days Porto Santo shows up to the north-east. The access road is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Inside the Pico das Pedras Forest Park, on the Estrada Regional 218 linking the city of Santana to the Achada do Teixeira plateau. The panorama stretches from São Jorge to Ponta de São Lourenço, with Penha d'Águia (about 600 m) marking the boundary between Santana and Machico; on the other side stands the central mountain massif, part of the Region's Network of Natural Monuments. The road is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Access is not the easiest: you reach it on foot along a cobbled way, one of the first roads that linked Funchal, on the south coast, to Santana, on the north. The reward is a wide panorama over the ragged outline of the north coast, dominated by Penha d'Águia (about 600 m), the boundary between Santana and Machico, with Ponta de São Lourenço in the distance.

On the Estrada Regional 101, on the way into Santana: a small figure of Nossa Senhora dos Bons Caminhos watches over the road, the Atlantic behind it. A short, natural stop on this route, with a view of the parish of Faial ringed by green slopes and of Penha d'Águia, about 600 m, marking the boundary between Santana and Machico.

A very high position, between mountain and sea, on the old Estrada Regional 103, at the entrance to the parish of Santana. From here you see the jagged coast of Faial, Penha d'Águia at about 600 m, and part of the bay of Fajã do Mar, a small pebble beach of Faial washed by the clear water of the north coast. A stop appreciated by visitors and locals alike.

In the foreground, the cliff of Achada do Gramacho, crowned by Quinta do Furão and its vineyards, then the gardens and scattered houses that make up this farming landscape. From here you also glimpse part of Fajã da Rocha do Navio, inside an exclusively marine nature reserve created in 1997 to protect its biological heritage.

In the parish of Ilha, a high point taking in the city of Santana with its white and ochre houses, then São Jorge — one of the first places settled on the north coast, known for its fertile soil — and Ilha itself, the municipality's most recent parish, known for its nature reserves, waterfalls and geological heritage. The name comes from its position between two streams: a «head» surrounded by water on every side.

Near Pico da Rainha, in the parish of Ilha, this viewpoint overlooks a stream valley entirely covered in Laurissilva — a subtropical forest some twenty million years old that occupies about 20% of the island, around 15,000 hectares. The parish's name is explained by its setting: ringed not by the sea but by streams, it forms an island within the island.

A viewpoint at Coxo, municipality of Santana. It looks out towards the north-east. It stands 371 m above sea level, 3,642 m from the coast; the DROTe 2023 orthophoto shows a platform or a parking area there.

A viewpoint at Ilha, municipality of Santana. It looks out towards the south-west. It stands 399 m above sea level, 2,751 m from the coast; the DROTe 2023 orthophoto shows a platform or a parking area there.

A viewpoint at Fajã Alta, in the parish of São Jorge, municipality of Santana. It looks out towards the south-east. It stands 366 m above sea level, 1,796 m from the coast; the DROTe 2023 orthophoto shows a platform or a parking area there.