
Museum Francisco Lacerda
Built on the ruins of the former “Marie d'Anjou Tuna Canning Factory” on the steep slope, overlooking the Vila da Calheta harbor, the Francisco de Lacerda Museum has the mission of studying, preserving, enhancing and publicizing the heritage of São Jorge Island and its community.
The Francisco de Lacerda Museum assimilates its origins - the Ethnographic House and the São Jorge Museum, which precedes it - and the local culture throughout collections based on the themes of São Jorge Island, Music (classical, folk from Francisco Lacerda and its philharmonics) and the Tuna Canning Industry, among others.
You will be able to enjoy other spaces, such as the documentation centre, the auditorium reserved for events, the temporary exhibition room and leisure areas inside and outside. The visits to the museum’s reserves (collections) will also be available at specified periods.
Assuming the motto “The Museum of All” and aware of the mission to promote the São Jorge's Island tangible and intangible heritage, we will work among the community with the responsibility to do more and better.

Pico da Esperança
1,053-metres high, this is the highest peak of São Jorge from where one can see the other islands of the central group.

Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo
A nature reserve and special ecological area, it is considered to be a sanctuary for body boarding and surfing. It is the only place in the archipelago where clams (Tapes decussatus), a local delicacy, grow.

Fajã de São João
Typical homes built in black stone with sash windows, and small farms, whose production is all for the farmer's own consumption. This fajã is one of the most pictoresque on the island.

Fajã dos Vimes
Weaving in manual looms has subsisted in this fajã since the sixteenth century. Various stitching techniques are applied to produce beautiful bedspreads and carpets. Because of the micro climate of this fajã, coffee is planted here for local consumption.

Urzelina Rural Exhibition Center
In addition to providing ethnographical information on the island, this center exhibits several pieces, including pieces related to agriculture and flax production.

Poça dos Frades
La ‘Poça dos Frades’ è una formazione geologica situata nel território del comune di Velas. Queste piscine naturali sono tra le più conosciute dell’isola, ed anzi la loro fama si è già estesa a tutto l’arcipelago.

Velas Sacred Art Museum
This museum displays a large collection of religious statues and silver pieces.

Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Livramento
This church from 1700 stands out for its stonework.

São Jorge Church
Church built in the 17th century and likely to have been the first church on the island. It was built under the order of D. Henrique with the purpose of replacing a 15th century temple.

Ponta do Topo Islet
A nesting place for birds on the eastern side of the island. During the summer, cows swim to the islet to graze there. Topo is also well known for the quality of its cheese.

Auditório Municipal e Centro Cultural das Velas

Igreja de São Francisco

Farol da Ponta dos Rosais

Ponta de Rosais

Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo Interpretation Centre
The Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo Interpretation Centre (CIFCSC) was created in order for visitors to learn about the geological, biological and human history of the Fajãs de São Jorge (coves), in particular, the fajãs of Caldeira de Santo Cristo and of Cubres.
The building was originated from the reconstruction of an old housing and its support house, which retains the original and traditional frontage.
It was a highlight target in several websites and architecture magazines and was the cover of the C3 Korean magazine. It integrated the “Mostra Ibérica de Património Arquitéctonico – La MIPA” project, within the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2013 "Close, Closer".
At the reception you can enjoy a rest area and see the space which recreates an old oven, decorated with reproductions of support tools.
In the exhibition room, visitors can find technical information in a multimedia kiosk and take a trip through time from the formation of fajãs up to today. You can also see several documentaries about the Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo and others of ethnographic character.
Geografia
Con 54 chilometri di lunghezza e 6,9 di larghezza massima, São Jorge si presenta come una catena di rilievi vulcanici allungata da Nord-est a Sud-est. La sua superficie complessiva, di 243,9 km2,, è abitata da 9.171 persone (dati del 2011). L’isola de São Jorge fa parte del Gruppo Centrale, ed è uno dei vertici del cosidetto “triangolo”: gli altri sono Faial e Pico, da cui São Jorge dista 18,5 km. Il suo punto più alto (1053 m.) è il Pico da Esperança, a 38°39’02’’ di latitudine nord e 28°04’27’’ de longitudine ovest.