Faial

Classified as a special protection area, this is a volcanic cone that affords a great view over the bay of Porto Pim and the city of Horta.

Guarded by a 30-metre high cross and by a statue Nossa Sr.ª da Conceição, from there you can see the other islands of the Central Group (Pico, São Jorge and Graciosa).

The main recreational harbour of the Azores, this marina is one of the most busy and famous in the world. It is a linking point for international regattas, and superstition tells sailors to paint a mural on the breakwater in order to attain divine protection during the rest of their trip.

The Virtual Centre for Marine Interpretation (CIMV) is located in the old Porto Pim Whaling Factory and allows visitors to take a virtual trip up to a 3000-metre depth to experience the different coastal and ocean environments of the Azores.

House where the elected first President of the Portuguese Republic, Manuel de Arriaga, lived. It was recently restored and features a museum which portrays the life of this illustrious son of Faial.

This Museum presents an interesting collection of whale and sperm whale which have been sculptured and recorded, with the most diverse reasons, by the skillful hands of the fishermen of the Island.

The permanent collection of the Porto Pim Whaling Station consists of all its original machinery. In this former factory the visitor goes through the several staging rooms for the full sperm whale processing: oil and grease extraction as well as the meat, bones and blood milling. These products were economically relevant until the second half of the 20th century. The sperm-whale room shows a 10 m female skeleton. The facilities were recently renovated and reopened to the public in October 2018.

This museum is housed in the old Jesuitical College, an imposing big-dimensioned building that remained unfinished, because the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal in 1760. The venue integrates several collections related to Faial history, especially the collection of ethnographical works in fig tree kernel (made by a local Faial-born artist) and pieces of other Portuguese artists, such as António Dacosta, Sousa Pinto and Vieira Lusitano. 

Garden built around 1857 and named after Florêncio Terra to pay tribute to this writer and politician who was born in the city of Horta, it is one of the oldest gardens of the island and showcases several species protected by law, including the Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco).

Located in the city centre, the Republic Garden features a nice space with a romantic appearance. This garden is one of the oldest of the island.

Located in the city centre, this garden affords a beautiful view over the island of Pico and the Horta Marina.

Due to the volcanic eruption, this lighthouse ceased to function in 1957. It was built using plastered stone masonry.

The Fort of Santa Cruz of Horta is also known as the Castle of Santa Cruz. This fort was erected near the landing quay of the city and became the main fortification of the island.

This church was built in the seventeenth century over a fifteenth-century chapel. Inside you will find an interesting eighteenth-century nativity scene presumably sculptured by Machado de Castro.

World famous amongst sailors, it opened in 1918 and is a cosmopolitan meeting point for people from all walks of life, including whalers, telephone technicians, seamen and even secret agents.

Located in the Old Whaling Factory, the Sea Centre showcases a wide variety of machinery used in bygone days, as well as collections related to whaling in the Azores.

This church is located in the city of Horta and was built for the Jesuits. The buildings that surround it became the Town Hall of Horta and the Horta Museum.

Holy Spirit Shrine built in 1760 in memory of the volcanic eruption at Cabeço do Fogo, which took place in 1672.

This church was built in the twentieth century and is located in the parish of Conceição. It is very interesting thanks to its Art Deco design.

The Capelinhos Volcano Interpretation Centre (CIVC) has an informative, educational and scientific mission, having for that purpose, a set of exhibitions with special emphasis on Capelinhos Volcano eruption and the formation of the archipelago, but also the various kinds of volcanic activity in the world and the history of Azorean lighthouses.

It was appointed by the European Museum Forum, for best European museum in 2012.

This building was constructed underground, so it wouldn’t interfere with the pre-existing landscape, allowing you to fully enjoy this recent volcanic landscape originated by the eruption of 1957/58. Besides the exhibitions, the Centre has an auditorium and a temporary exhibition of rock and mineral samples.

At the end of the visit, go up the Lighthouse where you can appreciate this unique landscape.

Located in the middle of the island, it is a two km wide and 400 metre deep volcanic cone. It is classified as a nature reserve and showcases rare endemic flora species.

Faial Botanic Garden is open to the public since 1986. With a central nucleus in the parish of Flamengos and an altitude nucleus in Pedro Miguel, its mission is related to the conservation and study of the Azores natural flora, promoting scientific knowledge and environmental awareness.

Turismo de Portugal distinguished it, in 2011, with an honourable mention in the award "Revitalization of Public Project”.

The Azores Seed Bank was selected in August 2015, by the "Botanic Garden Conservation International" (BGCI) as a study case on the conservation of rare seeds under the "Global Seed Conservation Challenge".

In June 2019, the extension of the Botanic Garden opened, which includes the Azores Orchidarium, where it is possible to explore a magnificent orchid collection and its interpretative exhibition, with several facts and curiosities about this extraordinary plant family.

When visiting this Garden, the visitors can get to know the rarest plants in the Azores, the traditional crops, a beautiful orchidarium, a collection of medicinal and aromatic plants, as well as the main invasive plants. The permanent exhibition, dedicated to the Natural History of the Azores Vegetation, gives emphasis to the archipelago, as a gathering point of unique plant species of different origins and biological ages, and explains the emergence of species and communities that only occur here, and the need to preserve this unique and fragile treasure as a legacy for the future.

The Azores Orchidarium’s collection contains a large diversity of orchid species and hybrids, organized according to their environmental preferences.

Therefore, several areas with different conditions were created: two warm greenhouses for the cultivation of tropical orchids and two shaded areas, with an outside space, for the cultivation of orchids from temperate zones.

This space was created by the Faial Botanic Garden in partnership with the company Agrozende, in order to gather the best possible conditions for the development of these plants. Every day, the staff takes care of each plant individually, in order to guarantee its growth.