Fans love to touch the crotch of Cristiano Ronaldo’s statue so much that it’s now glistening with gold
What: pa/empics/Adam Davy
The island of Madeira
POrtugal near Africa: Madeira – which, together with the neighboring island of Porto Santo and a few uninhabited mini-islands, belongs to the autonomous region of Madeira – is known for its spring-like climate all year round and its rich flora, to which it owes the apt nickname Flower Island. Located around 700 kilometers off the Moroccan coast in the Atlantic, green parks and gardens full of hydrangeas, birds of paradise and cap lilies, rough cliffs and extensive laurel forests can be found all over Madeira.
Because Madeira was formed by volcanic activity and was never connected to the mainland, some special species developed here, such as the Madeira cabbage white butterfly or the Madeira lizard, which can only be found here. The island of Atlantis, mentioned by the Roman historian and writer Pliny the Elder in his “Natural History” around 77 AD, is believed to be Madeira.
The name of the island’s capital Funchal means something like “lots of fennel” – that’s what the Portuguese saw when they landed on the island in 1419: a dense growth of wild fennel.
Source: Infographic The World
The most promising way to get around the 741 square kilometer island is to use one of the eleven cable cars that connect interesting places, such as the botanical garden with the village of Monte above the island’s capital. The most unconventional means of transport is a basket sled, with which the way back through the narrow and steeply sloping streets can be covered in record time – pushed by the carreiros, men dressed all in white with straw hats and leather boots.
A statue honoring world footballer Cristiano Ronaldo
The most famous son of Madeira is without a doubt Cristiano Ronaldo. Born in Funchal in 1985, the five-time world footballer opened his own hotel, the “Pestana CR7 Funchal”, and there is also a museum and a statue dedicated to him on the island.
“The statue is more beautiful than me,” said Ronaldo in 2014 at the unveiling of the three-meter-tall bronze monument near the port – more beautiful than the very failed and now revised bust that was long on display at the airport named after Ronaldo it at most.
The crotch, which visitors love to touch so much that it now has a golden shine, is particularly striking. The „CR7 Museum“in front of which the monument stands, is dedicated solely to the numerous prizes and awards that the athlete has won so far.
The black scabbard fish is a delicacy
Be sure to try the island specialties espetada (a meat skewer) and espada (an eel-like fish found in the North Atlantic). The black scabbard fish, as it is called in German, is one and a half meters long when fully grown, lives at depths of up to 1700 meters and only rises to higher water levels at night, where it is sometimes caught by fishermen.
Due to the pressure difference, it changes its color from a copper tone to black when exposed to air. He is the most popular with bananai.e. served with the banana native to Madeira.
The black scabbardfish lives at depths of up to 1700 meters
Source: Infographic WORLD
Sisi made the luxury hotel “Reid’s Palace” famous
„Reid’s Palace“ is the most famous hotel in Madeira – and one of the most expensive. Built in 1891, the luxury house quickly attracted wealthy Europeans fleeing the cold, wet winter – especially after two years after the opening, the Austrian Empress Sisi spent a month and a half here and made Madeira a hip destination. Irish playwright and Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw took dance lessons here in order to attend the (and still held) dinner dance every Saturday.
When business faltered in the post-war period, the idea of inviting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill came up. He came here in the 1950s, wrote his memoirs here, regularly strolled through the terraced gardens planted with mimosas and bougainvilleas, and in the years that followed drew British tourists to the island. The “Reid’s Palace”, now part of the luxury brand Belmond, is celebrating its 130th birthday this year.
The luxury hotel “Reid’s Palace” was built in 1891
Quelle: mauritius images / eye35 stock / Alamy
The laurel forest is part of the Unesco World Natural Heritage
Madeira’s laurel forest, the largest in the world, measures 150 square kilometers. It covers about a fifth of the island. The forest, also known as Laurisilva, which thrives on the island from 300 meters above sea level, consists of subtropical plants that were native to large parts of the Mediterranean region in the warm Tertiary period 66 to 2.6 million years ago and disappeared there during the ice ages.
In the Atlantic, laurel forests can also be found on the Azores and some of the Canary Islands. Because of its size and uniqueness, Madeira’s laurel forest, which still has the character of a primeval forest in remote locations, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Madeira has fantastic hiking trails – they also lead through old laurel forests
What: pa/imageBROKER/Michael Weber
Sailors brought Madeira wine from Portugal to the United States
Madeira’s main export is a wine that bears the island’s name. It is made from four grape varieties called Sercial, Verdelho, Boal and Malvasia and then stored in wooden barrels for at least three years. But there are also wines in the “Over Forty Years Old” class, which means they have matured for more than 40 years.
The grape harvest takes place in August and September, when the smell of must wafts out of the approximately 4,000 wine cellars and also from many private houses. Due to its high alcohol content (up to 22 percent) and its high residual sweetness, which makes it the perfect aperitif or digestif, it has a long shelf life even in opened bottles.
Madeira wine was popular with seafarers centuries ago and was a popular choice to take back to America – in 1776 George Washington toasted with it to celebrate the US Declaration of Independence. In 1903, on the occasion of a banquet for the Belgian Prince Albert, the Madeira sauce was invented, in which Madeira wine belongs in addition to white wine and veal stock.
On Madeira, vines only thrive near the coast, here in the south near the town of Estreito de Camara de Lobos
Source: mauritius images / Alois Radler Woess / Alamy
The quote
“Between two mighty beauties, this city smiles like a sleeping little child, safe and warm between its parents”
With these words, the mainland Portuguese Júlio Dinis, a widely read 19th-century writer to this day, praised Madeira’s capital, Funchal, and its location between the Atlantic and the mountains. In fact, parts of the city are on cliffs by the sea – such as the airport, which is therefore considered a difficult destination and may only be approached by pilots with the appropriate experience. Dinis, whose real name was Joaquim Guilherme Gomes Coelho, visited Madeira three times from 1869. He lived at Rua da Careira 90, where a statue commemorates him today.
Bizarre, record-breaking, typical: You can find more parts of our regional geography series here.
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Source: World on Sunday
This article was first published in January 2021.