The sound of men singing echoed between the houses just about dawn on Saturday. A return from a night long celebration perhaps or maybe some soldiers returning to the barracks at the top of the street? No, this was too melodic and harmonious.
The same song was heard later that day as we waited for a bus, Looking up we saw a large group of men and youths climbing the church steps. They each carried a staff, capped with a brass cross, scarf around the neck, shawl on the shoulders and a bag on the back. As they entered the church, the staff was left at the door and the singing quietened.
The Romeiros, the pilgrims of Sao Miguel island. Each year at the end of February, they gather in groups, many are returned emigrees from around the World. For seven days, dawn till dusk, they walk the roads and tracks of the island, visiting in turn each of the churches and chapels. The island is encircled in a clockwise procession whist the Ave Maria is sung. Each evening they are given shelter and a meal in a family home. Their bag of food for the next day's march is replenished. Some have made the pilgrimage for many years, for others it is a one time event. All have the same deep faith to follow this age old tradition. The pilgrimages started in the 16th century to seek through prayer, deliverence from the volcanic eruptions of the islands which were then thought to be the retribution of God.
One feature of the countryside of Sao Miguel Island in the Azores is the dry stone walls of black basalt. This volcanic rock is seen throughout the island and is the most common building material. The lanes high above Ponta Delgada are lined with these walls, sometimes as high as four metres. Occasionally these are broken by an arched doorway or a window giving evidence of a former building. They are only softened by the profusion of spring flowers such as lilies, nasturtiums or hydrangeas which line the roads.
Emerging into the village of Fajã de Baixo we came across the strangely named "Stubborn Turret" or "O Torreão das Teimosas". Derelict atop a small hill, this tower is little known except for the image carved into its walls by local artist, Vhils. "Sweet hug blessed by the moon" the face and arms of a woman, was created as part of Walk and Talk, a public art festival.
The tower was built in the nineteenth century from the period of Portuguese romanticism for lawyer and politician Henrique Ferreira da Paula Medeiros as a place of leisure and retreat. The tower is part of the Quinta do Torreão, all of which is now in ruins. The entrance from the road is flanked by two derelict buildings one of which had been a house. The top of the tower would have afforded views over the surrounding countryside and out over the nearby Atlantic. Although an empty shell, one can still trace the flights of stairs that rose through three floors. The outer staircase is now degraded to a grassy ramp leading to the second floor.
