The history of Porto Moniz is practically as ancient as that relating to Madeira's chief city, Funchal. This small but successful village, located on the furthest northwest head of Madeira island, had been founded at some time during the late thirteenth century. In the beginning it took the name of Porto do Trist?o and in fact is described by this title in several records dating from the 1530s. At this point, the village has got to surely have been an relatively unimportant outpost with very few people.

It was not long before Porto do Trist?o was re-designated Porto Moniz. This renaming happened sometime in the 1570s.

Whilst no definitive proof exists, it is generally accepted that this village renaming was at the behest of Francisco Moniz who was one of the earliest and most important landowners in the newly established village. There can be little doubt of the elevated station in life of Francisco Moniz, you need to look no further than the fact that he became the husband of Filipa da C?mara, a granddaughter of Jo?o Gon?alves Zarco, the father of modern Madeira.

Yet, the Francisco Moniz correlation is questioned by some since name Moniz was prominent in the freshly settled island. Jo?o Gon?alves Zarco's second wife carried the moniker of Isabella Moniz. Moreover, the pioneer governor of the nearby island of Porto Santo had been one Bartolomeu Perestrello. Bartolomeu's female child, Filipa Moniz Perestrello, ended up being famous for getting married to Christopher Columbus. As had been the convention, Filipa's middle moniker, Moniz, was extracted from her mother's unmarried name. As a result, it appears that there were a handful of noteworthy Moniz family members intimately involved with the settlement of Madeira throughout 16th century that could rest claim to the honour of being responsible for the naming of the fresh Parish of Porto Moniz.

What appears to be in little question though is that Francisco Moniz sponsored the constructing of the Nossa Senhora da Concei??o chapel which occupied a spot some 300 yards back from the waterside at Porto Moniz. This church provided religious guidance for the small regional population of farmers and fishermen.

Routinely for any coastal town, from its founding Porto Moniz was linked to the remainder of Madeira solely courtesy of sea-going transport. To appreciate this, you will have to comprehend that much of Madeira's seacoast climbs up considerably from the ocean. The massive cliffs and deep ravines that typify the coast around the northwest of Madeira caused it to be practically impossible to travel just about anywhere across land on foot.

Sadly ,, travel related concerns were not the sole drawback that its region bequeathed upon Porto Moniz. Since it stood on the shoreline, lacking means of promptly bolster its protection, Porto Moniz was vulnerable to attack by cutthroat buccaneers.

At first, the most effective response the occupants of Porto Moniz had to ocean borne attacks would have been to take themselves and their precious possessions away from the coast and to conceal themselves amid the uplands until such time as the menace subsided.

Nevertheless, in the 1730s the S?o Jo?o Baptista Fort was constructed. This sound citadel, erected from the regional hard basalt, volcanic rock, was positioned upon the headland so that it enjoyed an unhindered view of the complete sweep of the Atlantic Ocean towards the horizon. All of a sudden, anyone considering mischief not only faced the prospect of formidable opposition, but they had furthermore said goodbye to virtually any chance of a surprise approach.

The S?o Jo?o Baptista Fort thus delivered peace of mind and stability to the village and, in close association with security there followed a welcome increase in the region's population. The census held in the year of 1836 records that over seven thousand individuals resided in the parish of Porto Moniz.

The enveloping geography nevertheless hindered progress, though. Without a doubt, Porto Moniz remained mainly detached from the rest of the island until finally right after the 2nd World War. It was at this time that a thin coastal road coming from the adjoining community of S?o Vicente was cut into the base of the cliffs and furnished Porto Moniz an overland alternative for shipping and delivering items and produce in and out. In the last twenty years, this route has continually seen improvement by tunnelling and spanning with bridges to circumvent the most challenging expanses.

Now, at long last, Porto Moniz boasts a modern transportation network feeding into the community and with it comes the potential for broadening the economical possibilities of the community. One could not help believing that, to discover the remaining traditional facets of the village, you ought to visit Porto Moniz in the near future.

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