Santo Espírito () is a Portuguese civil parish, located in the municipality of Vila do Porto, in the autonomous region of Azores. The population in 2011 was 588, in an area of 26.68 km².

History

The parish was first referred in the chronicles of Gaspar Frutuoso:

:"Leaving this fajã towards Norte, in the lands created by fields of marcela, because there were many there, they call it Santo Espírito, where they say the older [inhabitants] made their first mass to the Holy Spirit, when they entered there, and from there it became until this day the parish of Santo Espírito, becoming it later built, like today it is, in the invocation of the Purification of Our Lady, with losing its older name. And, because they did not find the field a convenient place for a settlement and town, they went to Santa Ana, like it was, where it stayed later in this place."

Monte Alverne later identified that this area was associated with Nossa Senhora da Purificação, in the place of Espírito Santo.

In the area of Malbusca, during the early settlement of the region, the colonists collected the fungus Roccella tinctoria which was exported to Flanders to produce woad, in an artisanal and risky process:

:"Scattered along the cliffs of Malbusca, along the sea, very high and fearful, is collected urzela, which caused men, to risk their lives, inserted into baskets hanging by ropes tied to stakes tucked in the ground, over the rocks with one end to the basket and the other tied to a basket...there they were dropped by rope by hand until they arrive where they wanted to, and, when they had their bag full"

  • Lagar of Diogo Fernandes Faleiro (), a medieval wine-press hewn from the rocks along the Ribeira do Aveiro in Maia;
  • Municipal Washhouse of Santo António ()
  • Museum of Santa Maria - originally an ethnographic and parochial intuition, it houses exhibits on history, culture and tradition; Santo Espírito.
  • Whale Factory of Ponta do Castelo (), located at the point of Castelo, the abandoned/ruins was once the center of whaling in the southeast corner of Santa Maria;
  • Windmill of Lapa (), one of the few windmills that have survived, the stone base and wooden octagonal cupola are distinct features, although the sails are no longer available;
  • Windmill of Terra do Raposo (), the ruins of this windmill includes simply the stone base, since much of its structure was abandoned and fell into ruins;
  • Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte (), located in Panasco, in an enclosed/walled patio, this 19th century temple was reconstructed in 1886, following the storm effects (dated by an inscription);
  • Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Glória (), situated in the hilltop community of Glória, the small chapel is marked by a sculpted stone retable which is a transposition of the Baroque tile in the "Nationalist"-style;
  • Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Piedade ()
  • Hermitage of Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres (), this single-nave hermitage is the principal church of Maia and was established in 1685, by Manuel de Sousa Falcão and his wife, Cristina, but remodelled in 1997, through the contributions of a grupo of Luso-American and -Canadian emigrantes;
  • Hermitage of Santo António (), located in the hamlet of the same, the small 16th century church is encircled by other religious buildings (parochial hall and ), dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Purificação (Our Lady of the Purification)
  • Império of the Holy Spirit of Nossa Senhora da Glória ()
  • Império of the Holy Spirit of Piedade ()
  • Império of the Holy Spirit of Santo António (), in addition to this religious , this includes a group of religious buildings constructed in the late 19th century, and used in religious celebrations throughout the decades;

References

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