The most beautiful religious buildings Funchal

Inaugurated in 1497, the convent was founded at the instigation of João Gonçalves da Câmara, one of Zarco's sons. Today it is the home of a small community of Franciscan sisters composed of about twenty nuns. There you will learn that each sister had her own chapel for recollection. The most splendid of them, on the first floor, is adorned with magnificent azulejos with camellia motifs. Part of the convent has now been transformed into a school. Its church, covered with polychrome azulejos, is well worth a visit.

In 1569 King Sebastian I had the Jesuit College built, the seat of the administration of the University of Madeira (the students organise the guided tours). It must be said that the Colegio is a high point in the history of the city. From its creation, it had a pedagogical vocation and was later occupied by English assailants before being mobilized by the Portuguese army. In today's reception hall, the piano of Charles I, the last Austrian Emperor exiled to Funchal in 1921, is enthroned. The church surprises by its sumptuous decoration.

It was the first church of importance built overseas by the Portuguese. Ordered by King Manuel I in 1514 and built by the master Pêro Annes, it has a sober whitewashed façade surrounded by black basalt and red tufa. The architectural beauty of the building is associated with its Hispano-Arabic and Romano-Gothic lines. Inside, the ceiling has a Manueline inlay of wood and ivory, and a representation of the world and scenes depicting the great discoveries. The gilded Flemish style choir is flamboyant.

This elegant Church of the Socorro, with a black lava portal emphasizing white plaster and wooden doors, opens onto an interior with four allegorical paintings with gilded frames, trompe l'oeil painted ceiling and traditional azulejos. Every May ^1st it is the starting point for a procession in honour of Santiago Menor, patron saint of Funchal, fulfilling a vow made in 1538 to stop the plague epidemic that ravaged Funchal.