PORTUGAL ~ Madeira - Santana ~

...  Great postcard coming from the island Madeira also known as the “pearl of the Atlantic”... a floating garden in the ocean... Santana is a beautiful village and one of this Portuguese island’s most important tourist destinations, mainly because of the traditional palheiros that are found there... these typical small triangular, thatched-roof houses represents the way that houses used to be built in Santana, a few decades ago... now restored they are used as shops and tourism office... Thanks a lot Sabine!!❀◕ ‿ ◕❀

Photo: Angel Hernández
Santana is a municipality located  the north coast of the island of Madeira, in the Portuguese archipelago.

These small houses, built of natural stone and thatched with straw, were built using the resources at hand: stone or wood for the walls and straw from the once-abundant wheat fields for the roof. (the straw needed to replace the roofs every four or five year).  Inside there is an attic for storing agricultural products and a ground floor divided into two rooms, one of which was the bedroom. Cooking was done outdoors.

Stamp:

Houses of the Mediterranean
(Issued 09-07-2018)

MADEIRA ~ Map ~

...Beautiful map showing a lush green island...known as the "Pearl or the Garden of the Atlantic"... a tropical archipelago with a wonderful subtropical climate and breathtaking scenery...Thanks Anastasia!! ㋡

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago situated in the north Atlantic Ocean, southwest of Portugal. The archipelago consists of 1 large and several smaller islands; Madeira, Porto Santo, Deserted and Savage islands.The capital and largest city is Funchal.

The landscape remembers its volcanic origin and it is the largest island of this archipelago with an area of 741 km2 (286 sq mi), a length of 57 km (35 mi) while approximately 22 km (14 mi) at its widest point.

Since 1976, the archipelago has been one of the two Autonomous regions of Portugal , the other being the Azores. It is an outermost region of the European Union.


Stamp:

Madeira - Self Adhesive
(Issued 19-01-2015)

MADEIRA ~The Laurisilva - UNESCO~

...Beautiful new UNESCO site... Maderia's natural beauty... a magical forest... it is the largest surviving area of laurel forest and is believed to be 90% primary forest... the levados are long narrow water channels invented by the early settlers for moving water to where it was required... now used for walking in the forest...  home to endemic bird species such as the Madeira long-toed pigeon.... with great Darwin stamp.. Thanks a lot!!




The laurisilva is an ancient forest that had been virtually wiped out. It once covered much of southern Europe tens of millions of years ago but now only a few small pockets on islands of the Atlantic Ocean exist. Madeira has the largest of them.( it makes up about 20 per cent of

The forest is mainly comprised of evergreen trees and bushes with flat, dark green leaves. It’s also referred to as a ‘laurel forest’ although not all the plants are actually from the laurel family. The laurisilva of Madeira has at least 76 types of native plants as well as the animals which rely on them.

Stamp:

The 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Charles Darwin
(Issued 12-02-2009)