Achadinha (from
Achada + diminutive ''-inha'', meaning ''Little Achada'') is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Nordeste
The Northeast Region of Brazil ( ) is one of the five official and political regions of Brazil, regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, ...
on
São Miguel Island
São Miguel Island (; ), nicknamed "The Green Island" (), is the largest and most populous island in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, with 45,000 people residing in Ponta D ...
in the
Portuguese archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
of the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
. The population in 2011 was 535, in an area of 12.41 km
2.
Eurostat
History
Achadinha is one of the oldest localities in the municipality of Nordeste, referred to by Gaspar Frutuoso
Gaspar Frutuoso ( 1522 – 1591) was a Portuguese priest, historian and humanist from the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. His major contribution to Portuguese history was his detailed descriptions of the histo ...
in his chronicle, ''Saudades da Terra''. The settlement of this region dates to the early colonization of the island, when a man from Serra da Estrela
Serra da Estrela (, ) is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal. Together with the Serra da Lousã it is the westernmost constituent range of the Sistema Central and also one of the highest in the system. It includes mainland Portuga ...
region of northern Portugal established a stake along the northern coast. This man constructed a farm and cleared a roadway, that grew to become the principal link to this parish.
Around the 16th century, Achadinha was inhabited by 123 people in 43 homes. During this century, a small temple was constructed to the invocation of ''Nossa Senhora do Rosário'' (''Our Lady of the Rosary''), which was served by its first vicar Pêro Vieira. By the end of the 19th century, the small chapel was substituted by a three-nave church.
Achadinha, during the 17th century, was still little more than a small settlement, distant and isolated from the great centres, such as Vila Franca do Campo and Ponta Delgada. This was a land where isolation was commonplace, the winters strong and the people lived off of the land. Many of the inhabitants walked barefoot, wearing shabby rags, made of linen, in a region that was distant from any other centre.
It was in Achadinha that Liberal forces disembarked during the Liberal Wars
The Liberal Wars (), also known as the Portuguese Civil War () and the War of the Two Brothers () was a civil war in Portugal that lasted from May 1828 to May 1834, fought between liberal progressive constitutionalists (led by former King P ...
, under the command of the General Count of Vila Flor.
Geography
Achadinha is located east of Ribeira Grande, along the northern coast of São Miguel, between its neighbours Salga in the west and Achada in the east. Located northeast of the island capital (Ponta Delgada
Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...
) along the path of the Regional Roadway E.R.1-1ª, that encircles the island; it lies between the municipal seats of Nordeste and Ribeira Grande, with the central mountains towards the interior and the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
to the north.
Economy
Remotely, the inhabitants of the parish dedicated their work to the cultivation of wheat, corn, beats and potato. The parish diversified its activities, but deviated little from its agriculture and animal husbandry, with the production of milk and beef cattle.
Architecture
* Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário (), at the time of the 1522 earthquake, 123 people lived in the parish; it was at about this time that the church was established, with successive reconstructions occurring in 1568, 1830 and remodelled in 1882
References
{{authority control
Freguesias of Nordeste, Azores