Besides the delicate lace they produce, the women of São Jorge are responsible for one of the most characteristic forms of handicraft in the Azores - the home-made counterpanes which are a patchwork of squares and rectangles, in which red and yellow are the prevailing colours, covering the whole cloth. These colourful counterpanes are laboriously made on crude wooden looms using ancestral techniques. Made of warm wool to keep out the cold of winter nights, they add a colourful and cheerful note to the simple, whitewashed walls of the houses on São Jorge.
Lace of São Jorge
The typical meat and fish dishes of the Azorean cuisine are also present in São Jorge. It has exclusive rights, however, to the fleshy cockles that are caught in the waters of the lake called Caldeira de Santo Cristo. There is also a large variety of sweets with names such as coscorões, rosquilhas de aguardente, espécies, suspiros, esquecidos, bolo de véspera, cavacas, bolo de coalhada and doce branco.
São Jorge CheeseThe green grass of the fields is transformed into milk in the udders of the local cows. And from it are produced creamy, straw-coloured cheeses that have the size of wheels and weigh from 7 to 12 kilos. Cured for several months in rooms where a constant temperature is maintained, the cheese acquires a honey coloured rind. Afterwards, it is exported to various countries, where it is appreciated for the piquant flavour it acquires with time... and which makes it a delicious appetiser.
A festival without music and dancing is not a festival. The men and women of São Jorge therefore repeat old songs and dances that are common to the folklore of the Azores, such as the Chamarrita, Sapateia, São Macaio and Pézinho and fill the air with the happy tunes of the nearly twenty bands that exist on the island.A guitar... and a conductorThe classical guitar was brought by settlers in the 15th and 16th centuries but due to the isolation of the islands it underwent changes that make it different in several ways from the instruments that are popularly used in Continental Portugal. Even in the Azores there are local versions of the guitar that are reflected, for example, in the opening in the sound box, which is circular in Terceira and São Jorge and composed of two adjoining hearts in São Miguel and Santa Maria, and in the number of strings which can be twelve or sixteen.An instrument used in festivals and pilgrimages and closely connected with the life style of the people of the Azores, the guitar or viola de arame is a must in all the rich and varied folk music of the islands. Even nowadays its players, who are capable of executing a series of variations that thrill listeners, are called upon to liven up the Holy Ghost Festivals, wedding feasts and family reunions.
Francisco de Lacerda, the internationally known conductor and composer of the first quarter of this century, was a skilled player of the viola de arame. Having been born in São Jorge, he used to spend his holidays in his house at Fragueira, in the civil parish of Ribeira Seca, near the town of Calheta.
Living wrapped up in the green countryside as they do, the inhabitants of São Jorge hold a colourful and joyful series of events every year.
These are the famous Holy Ghost Festivals, which date back to the time of the settlers and join the inhabitants together in a fraternal spirit.
The festival begins with the crowning of the "emperor", It continues with the displaying of the crown for 8 days in the house of the managers, and it ends on the feast day of the "empire", when a copious meal is served while the "jesters" sing old tunes accompanied by drum and cymbols; in the afternoon, bands liven things up with their music.
Sometimes "bullfighting on a rope", brought from neighbouring Terceira island, stimulates the bravest lads to challenge the animal, not always successfully but in a way that is always lively and marry. All over the island, starting on Whitsun and continuing until the summer months.
Santo Cristo folk pilgrimage
The surprise of finding the happy atmosphere of a rustic festival in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Fireworks, colourful arches and music provide the frame for the religious ceremony on Fajã of Santo Cristo in First Sunday in September.
In São Jorge Island we can see the many shades of cool green of the pastures inhabited by plump spotted cows, the spots of blue hydrangeas and heather in the fields. The dense clusters of ferns which, mixed with arum lilies and belladonnas - the latter affectionately called "girls go to school", in some islands of the archipelago since they bloom at the start of the school year - cover the slopes. Here and there oaks, beeches, pines and eucalyptus are mixed with the remains of the laurissilva forest that covered the island before it was settled, a valuable relic of the vegetation that existed in southern Europe and North Africa over 15 million years ago. This is the natural setting that São Jorge offers for the most exciting views, to which the crystal blue ocean lends its tones and its frame made up of foam dashing against the steep cliffs along the coast.FajãsOriginating in the collapse of cliffs, the fajãs are flat areas that stretch along the coast. All of them have been converted into fertile orchards, into fields where yams, maize and vegetables are grown. Due to micro-climates, it is possible to grow coffee, vineyards, tropical fruits and beautiful dragon trees in some of them. There are fajãs on both sides of the island. On the lower, sunnier southern coast, you will find the fajãs of Velas, Santo Amaro, Almas, Grande, Vimes, Bodes, Além, São João, Cardoso and Alabaçal. The north is a succession of tiny fajãs at the bottom of ravines that are hundreds of metres deep; the outstanding ones are those of Caldeira de Santo Cristo (with an underwater cave and a lake from which delicious cockles are obtained - the only ones in the Azores), Cubres (also with a crystalline lake) and Ouvidor (the limiting rocks of which have been made lace-like by the ocean).The central peaks An area that corresponds to the most recent part of the island which is geologically the product of three important volcanic eruptions spaced out ever thousands of years, of which the "welding" can be seen in the fractures that interrupt the landscape to the east and to the west. It is made up of small volcanic cones of which the highest - Pico da Esperança, with an altitude of 1,067 metres - offers views that take in the nearest islands: Faial, Pico, Graciosa and Terceira.
Pico da Esperança
Sete Fontes
São Jorge (also known in English as San Jorge) is an island in the central part of the Azores. It is separated from Pico Island by 15 km with a strait. Its east to west length is 53 km and its north to south width is 8 km. The area is 237.59 km² and the population is 10,500.São Jorge is a volcanic island, as are many of the Azorean islands. It has erupted six times between 1580 and 1907. Ten people were killed by the 1580 eruption and eight in 1808. In both eruptions small glowing clouds were reported. A possible submarine eruption was reported southwest of the island in 1964 but was not confirmed.São Jorge has been described as an island that is like a ship anchored to the ocean, perhaps a commentary on the myriad attractions the island offers. At least this much is certain, its natural beauty is undeniable: mountain ranges, volcanic cones, checker board tilled fields, fajas along the coast, verdant bird-inhabited islets, natural bridges and arches along the coast, grottoes and various rocky formations, striking waterfalls and streaming rivers, green pastures with blooming wild flowers, and vineyards and orchards growing atop fertile flatlands.
São Jorge was first discovered in 1439 but wasn’t populated until 20 years later when colonists from Europe arrived. The island achieved prosperity rather quickly, producing grapes, wheat, archil, and woad, which were exported to Europe. After Philip II of Spain took the Portuguese throne, São Jorge soon afterwards capitulated to the Spaniards in 1583. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the island was subjected to corsair attacks and raids by the English, French, Algerians, and the Turkish.
In addition to the frequent raids and invasions, São Jorge suffered through bad crop years, food shortages, and hunger throughout the 16th to 19th centuries as well as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in 1580, 1757, and 1808. In the last century, the island has progressed and prospered thanks in part to the development of its two main ports, Velas and Calheta, and the building of a modern airport. These developments have brought an end to the isolation of the island, which has now established a relatively productive dairy, fishing, canning, and livestock industry.
Many visitors of São Jorge today find the island to be a tranquil destination where nature can be appreciated intimately. The island is particularly acclaimed for its beautiful Fajãs (coves), which are pieces of land ripped from the high cliffs, the Fajã de Caldeira de Santo Cristo being an example of one. This site has a small lagoon next to the ocean that has the only fresh water clams in all of the Azores. It also shelters an underground cave and lake and is located in the Ribeira Seca area.Mountain ranges and volcanic peaks are also a big part of São Jorge. The Pico de Esperança is the highest point on the island at close to 3,500 feet high, with breathtaking views of the remaining island as well as the Azores islands of Terceira, Faial, Pico, and Graciosa. The Igreja de Urzelina is an interesting volcanic site as well, created by the 1808 eruption of Pico da Esperança. The site features the church tower of Urzelina, all that remains from the burying of the old town induced by the eruption.There are a number of caves and grottoes on the island as well. Algar do Montoso is the site of rock formations, as is Furnas da Pombas. The latter’s volcanic formations are inhabited by wild pigeons. Both sites require guides and equipment to explore.São Jorge is also greeted by a number of islets like Topo and Rosais, both are nesting habitats for a number of migratory and seabirds. Both sites are rocky and full of endemic Azorean flora, worth visiting if you are a nature enthusiast.
Lace of São Jorge
