Furnas in a Day: Cozido from a Metre Down, and Pico do Ferro

Lagoa das Furnas

The cozido, the lake and the boiling vents.

Porto Formoso

A visit to the tea factory and the plantations, with a cup of it at the end.

Caldeira das Furnas

The boiling vents and the fumaroles, and the mineral waters to taste.

Parque Terra Nostra

There has been a garden in the Furnas valley for more than 200 years. From the top of the Pico do Ferro viewpoint it becomes clear that the valley is a crater, seven kilometres across, and what is left of a volcano long thought extinct. Furnas became popular at the end of the 18th century, when mineral water was taken seriously as a treatment for rheumatism and obesity among other things. There are hundreds of small springs and streams here, each with its own properties. The Terra Nostra garden sits in the middle of that water system.

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Miradouro Pico Do Ferro

The viewpoint sits at about 570 metres, on the Pico do Ferro. The view runs over the whole volcanic crater of the Furnas valley, with the Lagoa das Furnas to the right and the valley opening away to the left. The mountains around it are visible too. This viewpoint is on the list of walking routes in the municipality of Povoação.

Vila Franca do Campo

Vila Franca do Campo, on São Miguel in the Azores, was the island's first capital, created in 1444. The name came from Vila Franca de Xira on the mainland, because the founder, Vaz Botelho, came from there. Its importance ended with the earthquake of 1522, which buried much of the town and killed several thousand people.

Lagoa das Furnas

The Lagoa das Furnas is in the parish of Furnas, in the municipality of Povoação. The vegetation around it is thick and the setting quiet enough that people come for that alone. The lake sits in the middle of serious volcanic activity, though there is nothing to be concerned about: five volcanoes on the island count as active, all of them dormant, and the Furnas volcano last erupted in 1630. On the shore, the traditional cozido das Furnas is cooked: meat and vegetables in a pot, lowered into holes in the fumarole ground and covered over.

Caldeira das Furnas

The Caldeiras of Furnas are the best known sight on São Miguel and among the most visited in the whole archipelago, because of the active volcanism on show. There is the sulphurous mud, and the sheer number of springs: hot, warm, cold and naturally carbonated, coming out of the rock side by side. The medicinal mud is used for respiratory complaints, particularly allergic ones, and for circulatory infections, gastritis and nervous conditions. The Largo das Caldeiras is the centre of it. In summer the corn cooked in the boiling vents is what people queue for; in winter the place has its own appeal.