Capelinhos Volcano, Faial, Azores

On the trail of the Capelinhos Mistery


from the top of the lighthouse
Capelinhos Volcano as seen from the top of the homonymous lighthouse.
Top of the Old Lighthouse
Capelinhos Lighthouse, deactivated after the destruction caused by successive eruptions and earthquakes in 1957-58.
Threshold Rainbow
Rainbow shines over the border between the green and arid area of ​​the Capelinhos Peninsula.
the ultimate path
The Volcano Path. It crosses the Capelinhos Peninsula to Ponta dos Capelinhos.
Jeep & Empire
Jeep passes in front of one of the Empires of the Divine on the island of Faial.
Storekeeper
View of Almoxarife from the top of the Miradouro da Conceição.
Flemish Mill.
The mill at Espalamaca, with the Pico mountain in the background.
socializing in the wind
Friends are talking at a fence on the Capelinhos Volcano.
lush pasture
Cows graze in a meadow between Almoxarife and Caldeira do Faial.
rainbow and rainbow
Arco-Íris adds color to the blackened area of ​​the Capelinhos Peninsula.
the old lighthouse
Ponta dos Capelinhos section, crowned by the homonymous lighthouse.
Crown of Empire
The summit of one of Faial Island's Empires of the Divine.
Capelinhos Volcano
Panoramic view of Ponta dos Capelinhos with the homonymous volcano in the background.
Basalt Warehouse
Volcanic sand at Praia de Almoxarife, with the Pico mountain on the other side of the Faial Channel.
From one coast of the island to the opposite one, through the mists, patches of pasture and forests typical of the Azores, we discover Faial and the Mystery of its most unpredictable volcano.

It was by far the easiest and fastest way to the coast and the western end of the island.

It was, however, the only one that almost crossed it in half. Passing through the Caldeira, the sunken and lacustrine crater that was supposed to prove us as Faial, in the image of neighboring Pico, had as much of an island as a volcano.

We set off for this ascent, from the surroundings of Praia do Almoxarife. We turned our backs on Pico once and for all, first pointing to Conceição, from there, the EN1-2A above, zigzagging through windmills and fertile smallholdings, fertilized by cows given over to their endless pastures.

Capelinhos volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

View of Almoxarife from the top of the Miradouro da Conceição.

Little by little, we ascend from almost sea level, to 1.043 meters from Cabeço Gordo, the roof of the island.

We were less than half the altitude of Pico. Even so, when we get out of the car and win the last stretch to the Miradouro, a maddening gale almost sweeps Faial down.

If it was just the wind, we wouldn't be bad.

The Cloudy Zenith of Cabeço Gordo and the Caldeira Sumida in Mist

A caravan of clouds passed by. As dense as they were ungoverned, they carried with them the visibility we were counting on, a clarity of atmosphere, partial though it was, that let us be dazzled by the imminent crater. We knew how verdant and special the boiler was. It measures 1.5km in diameter. And almost 400 meters to its deepest point, in the bed of the lake that has inhabited it for a long time.

Furthermore, a trail ran all the way around its edge. Giving it a contemplative spin was, on a calm day, also a dazzling photographic exercise. Under those conditions, we would only be very lucky to avoid ending up sprawling in the depths of the volcano.

We waited twenty minutes. After half an hour. At first on the edge, shaking like sticks. Moments later, already inside the car, the wind, in addition to being furious, was blowing wet and hitting us cold. Almost three quarters of an hour of white dictatorship later, we surrender to frustration.

We take a definitive look from the top of the shore. Without catching a glimpse of an open blue, we reversed. To the car. And onto National Road 2-2A.

With those caldera misadventures, we had already forgotten the road eccentricity we were on. In a few kilometers, the road tried to revive our memories. Instead of a mere linear and stable asphalt road, in the image of its own name, the EN 2-2A multiplied and crossed in a succession of unusual stretches.

The Magical Route to the West Coast. On the path of Capelinhos

The route to the west coast forced us to circle at least half the base of the Caldeira, against the clock, in undulating sobs generated by the countless lines of water that branched from the belly of Cabeço Gordo, in search of the Atlantic.

In some sections, the road remained conventional. Without warning, a long cobbled patch interrupted it, which the frequent floods bulged to its liking.

At intervals, the winding route also led us to pine forests and cedar forests, dreary to match.

In pure contrast, from each new peak of meander, with the ocean closer and closer, the road came back to astonish us with the green-blue-marine exuberance all around.

Almoxarife Beach, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Volcanic sand at Praia de Almoxarife, with the Pico mountain on the other side of the Faial Channel.

In the vicinity of the village of Joana Alves, we knew that we had already entered the kind of slice of Faial cheese from the parish of Cedros.

When we arrived at Ribeira Funda, it was just a short time before we entered Praia do Norte. Capelo and the peninsula of the same name followed from the antipodes of Almoxarife.

Hidden in Capelo, the intricate Mystery of Capelinhos, a profusion of volcanic and tectonic expressions that stretched to Ponta dos Capelinhos and dotted the sea off to the sea.

The Dramatic Past of Capelinhos Volcano

Since the confines of the Portuguese colonization of Faial, the people of the island converged there due to the fertility of the soils. Century after century, people benefited from immaculate agricultural production and pastures that gave meaning to any and every existence.

Capelinhos volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Cows graze in a meadow between Almoxarife and Caldeira do Faial.

In such a way that, even before Valadouro, off the road, along the circular slope of Monte Capelo, up to Norte Pequeno, white houses and small houses are repeated, most of them with open views of the ocean and granting residents rural lives , fishing and even tourist as simple and stable as you can imagine.

On September 16, 1957, the Earth began to stir this tranquility. On that day, a seismic hyperactivity took over the place that would forever shake the lives of these parts. Until the 27th, there were more than 200 earthquakes of intermediate Mercali intensity.

That same day, it was found that, a mere three hundred meters from Ponta dos Capelinhos, the Atlantic, normally cold, boiled and bubbled.

By the end of the month, the intensity of the earthquakes increased sharply.

Capelinhos volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Arco-Íris adds color to the blackened area of ​​the Capelinhos Peninsula.

From Seismic Threat to Volcanic Catastrophe

The mere bubbling gave rise to a projection of volcanic ash, which in its most dramatic moments reached a kilometer and a half in altitude, five hundred meters higher than the ceiling of Faial do Cabeço Gordo.

But it wasn't just the ash that exploded into the sky. With the ocean water in a pressure cooker mode, gigantic clouds of steam were also generated. The most Dantesque climbed to four kilometers. As if that wasn't enough, on the 27th of September, there was an underwater eruption off Ponta dos Capelinhos.

Fast forward to October 13th. THE volcanic activity leveled up. Powerful explosions projected veritable lava and ash bombs into the skies.

When they fell on Faial, this lava and ash destroyed crops and pastures, especially in the current parishes of Capelo and Praia do Norte. But not only. They became so distressing and dangerous that they forced the mass evacuation of inhabitants with homes in the vicinity of the volcano.

The Providential Refuge in the Northeastern United States

Thereafter, for a long period, thousands of afflicted Fayalenses were enticed by an extraordinary emigration quota granted by the Rhode Island and Massachussetts regions, also at the will of the Senator, soon as president of the USAJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Convinced by the community spirit of migration, most of the disgraced Faialenses moved their lives to the northeast coast of the United States. It is, in fact, the reason why most Portuguese emigrants in America are concentrated in these areas.

And because in them the Azorean cult of the Divine is perpetuated, with strong expression in Faial.

Império do Divino, Capelinhos Volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Jeep passes in front of one of the Empires of the Divine on the island of Faial.

While this Atlantic emigration was taking place, in Capelinhos, at ground and underground level, unstoppable rivers of lava were already flowing into the sea.

Volcanic activity continued, even so, dynamic and complex. Faial gained new lands.

A Nationalist Initiative Scorned by the Geology of Faial

On October 10th, a newly formed island was sighted. Thirteen days later, two reporters from RTP, Carlos Tudela and Vasco Hogan Teves and Urbano Carrasco, journalist from Diário Popular, transported in a rowboat by owner Carlos Raulino Peixoto, disembarked on the newly discovered Ilha Nova.

They planted a Portuguese flag over the ashes. This daring of yours remained for eternity. Unlike the island.

Inflated to almost 100 meters in height and 800 in diameter, Ilha Nova held the flag of the corners for just six days. On October 29, it sank.

The seismic activity lasted for months on end. During this time, he shaped the landscape of Capelo and the ocean at his leisure. This work of Earth proved itself in such exuberant way that the National Geographic decided to register it and sent two of its reporters.

Lighthouse, Capelinhos Volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Ponta dos Capelinhos section, crowned by the homonymous lighthouse.

In seismic terms, the Capelinhos Volcano had a new peak on the night of May 12th to 13th, 1958, when there were almost five hundred earthquakes.

The next day, the eruptions went into a Strombolian mode. More regular, its projections of incandescent lava reached 500 meters.

They generated a frightening brooding and an overwhelming vibration that threatened the houses of Faial and even the other islands of the Atlantic triangle.

Despite its exuberance, the long volcanic phenomenon of the Mystery of Capelinhos did not claim victims.

A Serious Photographic Investigation of the Mystery of Capelinhos

More meters less meters of sand and ash, or of the diameter of the crater and the islands that then formed, Capelinhos and Capelo remained as we were about to find them.

Capelinhos Volcano Path, Misterios, Faial, Azores

The Volcano Path. It crosses the Capelinhos Peninsula to Ponta dos Capelinhos.

Norte Pequeno already back, as we pass by the foot of Cabeço do Canto, we turn towards the Caminho do Volcão.

This kind of opening straight, transposes us from a green bush to a plain of gray earth. We parked.

Capelinhos volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Capelinhos Volcano as seen from the top of the homonymous lighthouse.

We walked to the Volcano Interpretation Center, which was about to close, and we ran to the top of the Ponta dos Capelinhos lighthouse.

There, in panoramic mode, hit by a gale similar to the one with which the Caldeira had trapped us, we enjoyed the surreal scenery, something lunar around us.

Capelinhos volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Panoramic view of Ponta dos Capelinhos with the homonymous volcano in the background.

The same cloud caravan from the Faial zenith was flying over us.

It tied us up with a play of sun and magical shadow that made the marine silver of the cove sway forward and, from time to time, gilded the volcanic earth of the sand, the slopes of ash, and what was left of the crater.

Denser clouds arrived and shed a drizzle of rain. And they bequeathed a rainbow that served as a bridge between the sea of ​​green inside the peninsula and the “backs” of the crater.

Rainbow, Capelinhos Volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Rainbow shines over the border between the green and arid area of ​​the Capelinhos Peninsula.

Already too soaked, we retreat to the interior of the lighthouse and return to its base.

With the sun almost setting off, we set out on the path that led to the volcano's beach. We walk on the basaltic sand. We resist a sudden urge to dive and swim.

Barely sheltered under an island of bushes that resisted geological oppression there, we saw more clouds and a new drizzle taking hold of the old tower.

The next downpour fell with the big star disappearing to the other side of the EARTH.

We knew that the long 1957/58 eruption of Capelinhos had ruined the lighthouse. In agreement, we consoled ourselves to enjoy the final light of the sunset.

Lighthouse, Capelinhos Volcano, Misterios, Faial, Azores

Capelinhos Lighthouse, deactivated after the destruction caused by successive eruptions and earthquakes in 1957-58.

With a serious storm and pitch setting in over the gray peninsula, we took refuge in the car and started our return to the other side of Faial. And the Horta.

Pico Island, Azores

Pico Island: the Azores Volcano with the Atlantic at its Feet

By a mere volcanic whim, the youngest Azorean patch projects itself into the rock and lava apogee of Portuguese territory. The island of Pico is home to its highest and sharpest mountain. But not only. It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the Azoreans who tamed this stunning island and surrounding ocean.
Flores Island, Azores

The Atlantic ends of the Azores and Portugal

Where, to the west, even on the map the Americas appear remote, the Ilha das Flores is home to the ultimate Azorean idyllic-dramatic domain and almost four thousand Florians surrendered to the dazzling end-of-the-world that welcomed them.
Santa Maria, Azores

Santa Maria: the Azores Mother Island

It was the first in the archipelago to emerge from the bottom of the sea, the first to be discovered, the first and only to receive Cristovão Colombo and a Concorde. These are some of the attributes that make Santa Maria special. When we visit it, we find many more.
Terceira Island, Azores

Terceira Island: Journey through a Unique Archipelago of the Azores

It was called the Island of Jesus Christ and has radiated, for a long time, the cult of the Holy Spirit. It houses Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest and most splendid city in the archipelago. These are just two examples. The attributes that make Terceira island unique are endless.
Tongariro, New Zealand

The Volcanoes of All Discords

In the late XNUMXth century, an indigenous chief ceded the PN Tongariro volcanoes to the British crown. Today, a significant part of the Maori people claim their mountains of fire from European settlers.
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Tanna, Vanuatu

From where Vanuatu Conquered the Western World

The TV show “Meet the Native” took Tanna's tribal representatives to visit Britain and the USA Visiting their island, we realized why nothing excited them more than returning home.
Big Island, Hawaii

Searching for Rivers of Lava

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Volcanoes

Mountains of Fire

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Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Indonesia

The Volcanic Sea of ​​Java

The gigantic Tengger caldera rises 2000m in the heart of a sandy expanse of east Java. From it project the highest mountain of this Indonesian island, the Semeru, and several other volcanoes. From the fertility and clemency of this sublime as well as Dantesque setting, one of the few Hindu communities that resisted the Muslim predominance around, thrives.
Thira Santorini, Greece

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Around 1500 BC a devastating eruption sank much of the volcano-island Fira into the Aegean Sea and led to the collapse of the Minoan civilization, referred to over and over again as Atlantis. Whatever the past, 3500 years later, Thira, the city of the same name, is as real as it is mythical.
Nea Kameni, Santorini, Greece

The Volcanic Core of Santorini

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São Miguel, Azores

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Horta, Azores

The City that Gives the North to the Atlantic

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Graciosa, Azores

Her Grace the Graciosa

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Corvo, Azores

The Unlikely Atlantic Shelter on Corvo Island

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São Jorge, Azores

From Fajã to Fajã

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Vale das Furnas, São Miguel

The Azorean Heat of Vale das Furnas

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Pico Island, Azores

The Island East of the Pico Mountain

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Angra do Heroismo, Terceira , Azores

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Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
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Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

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Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beach
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Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, lions
safari
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Mount Lamjung Kailas Himal, Nepal, altitude sickness, mountain prevent treat, travel
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 2th - Chame a Upper BananaNepal

(I) Eminent Annapurnas

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Alaskan Lumberjack Show Competition, Ketchikan, Alaska, USA
Architecture & Design
Ketchikan, Alaska

Here begins Alaska

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Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
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shadow of success
Ceremonies and Festivities
Champoton, Mexico

Rodeo Under Sombreros

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Towers of Puelba Cathedral illuminated during sunset
Cities
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A City Filled with Faith at the Foot of the Volcano

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Beverage Machines, Japan
Lunch time
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The Beverage Machines Empire

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Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Culture
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An Impressive China

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4th of July Fireworks-Seward, Alaska, United States
Sport
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Cambodia, Angkor, Ta Phrom
Traveling
Ho Chi Minh a of Angkor, Cambodia

The Crooked Path to Angkor

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Totems, Botko Village, Malekula, Vanuatu
Ethnic
Malekula, Vanuatu

Meat and Bone Cannibalism

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sunlight photography, sun, lights
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

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Vittoriosa, Birgu, Malta, Waterfront, Marina
History
Birgu, Malta

To the Conquest of the Victorious City

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Street Scene, Guadeloupe, Caribbean, Butterfly Effect, French Antilles
Islands
Guadalupe, French Antilles

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Northern Lights, Laponia, Rovaniemi, Finland, Fire Fox
Winter White
Lapland, Finland

In Search of the Fire Fox

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Couple visiting Mikhaylovskoe, village where writer Alexander Pushkin had a home
Literature
Saint Petersburg e Mikhaylovkoe, Russia

The Writer Who Succumbed to His Own Plot

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Cathedral, Funchal, Madeira
Nature
Funchal, Madeira

Portal to a Nearly Tropical Portugal

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Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

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Hikers below Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, California, United States of America
Natural Parks
Death Valley, USA

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blessed rest
UNESCO World Heritage
Hi Ann, Vietnam

The Vietnamese Port That Got to See Ships

Hoi An was one of the most important trading posts in Asia. Political changes and the siltation of the Thu Bon River dictated its decline and preserved it as the most picturesque city in Vietnam.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Characters
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
mini-snorkeling
Beaches
Phi Phi Islands, Thailand

Back to Danny Boyle's The Beach

It's been 15 years since the debut of the backpacker classic based on the novel by Alex Garland. The film popularized the places where it was shot. Shortly thereafter, the XNUMX tsunami literally washed some away off the map. Today, their controversial fame remains intact.
Rostov Veliky Kremlin, Russia
Religion
Rostov Veliky, Russia

Under the Domes of the Russian Soul

It is one of the oldest and most important medieval cities, founded during the still pagan origins of the nation of the tsars. At the end of the XNUMXth century, incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, it became an imposing center of orthodox religiosity. Today, only the splendor of kremlin Muscovite trumps the citadel of tranquil and picturesque Rostov Veliky.
End of the World Train, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
On Rails
Ushuaia, Argentina

Last Station: End of the World

Until 1947, the Tren del Fin del Mundo made countless trips for the inmates of the Ushuaia prison to cut firewood. Today, passengers are different, but no other train goes further south.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Society
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
Young twin women, weavers
Daily life

Margilan, Uzbequistan

A Tour of Uzbekistan's Handicraft Fabrics

Located in the far east of Uzbekistan, in the Fergana Valley, Margilan was one of the essential stops on the Silk Road. Since the 10th century, the silk products produced there have made it stand out on maps; today, haute couture brands compete for its fabrics. More than just a prodigious center of artisanal creation, Margilan values ​​and cherishes an ancient Uzbek way of life.
Maria Jacarés, Pantanal Brazil
Wildlife
Miranda, Brazil

Maria dos Jacarés: the Pantanal shelters such Creatures

Eurides Fátima de Barros was born in the interior of the Miranda region. 38 years ago, he settled in a small business on the side of BR262 that crosses the Pantanal and gained an affinity with the alligators that lived on his doorstep. Disgusted that once upon a time the creatures were being slaughtered there, she began to take care of them. Now known as Maria dos Jacarés, she named each of the animals after a soccer player or coach. It also makes sure they recognize your calls.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.