Santana, Madeira

Santana
Municipality
The village of Arco de São Jorge in an amphitheatre-shaped valley along the northern coast of Santana municipality
UTC±00:00 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (WEST)
Postal code	9230-116
Area code	291
Patron	Saint Anne
Local holiday	24 June
Website	http://cm-santana.com

Santana (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɐ̃ˈtɐnɐ] ^ⓘ), short form for Santa Ana (meaning Saint Anne) is a municipality along the northern coast of the island of Madeira, in the Portuguese archipelago of the same name. The population in 2011 was 7,719,^[1] in an area of 95.56 square kilometres (36.90 sq mi).^[2]

Geography

Santana includes six parishes, within a rugged mountainous environment, most occupying river-valleys:

• Arco de São Jorge
• Faial
• Ilha
• Santana - the parish (and town) has a population of 3,275 (in 2011), in an area of 19.01 km²
• São Jorge
• São Roque do Faial

Santana parish has the largest number residents, while Arco de São Jorge is both the smallest, physically, and has the lowest number of residents,^[3] while Faial is the largest parish.

Santana is known for the traditional homes constructed with sloping triangular rooftops, and protected with straw. These were mainly rural homes, used by local farmers, during the settlement of the island, with white-painted walls, red doors and windows with blue trim. Most of the surviving buildings are tourist attractions, and maintained (for example, the straw roofs are replaced every four to five years).

Economy

A tourist-themed park was constructed to exhibit examples of the island's early history and culture; the Madeira Theme Park is an ample area, on 7 acres (28,000 m²) of land, where visitors re-discover the cultures of Madeira and

. This includes exhibits on the island's history, artifacts used in daily life and cultural presentations, in a scenic environment.

Notable citizens

• Cardinal for Lourenço Marques
  , and first resident Cardinal in Africa.

References