Travel Guide Caldeira

The highest point on the island, the caldera was formed around 12,000 years ago and presents a very different face to the one you know from Graciosa. Gentle hills suddenly give way to a 270-metre-deep crater, pastures give way to dense fir forests, and soon you're descending into Europe's largest volcanic dome. The Graciosa caldera was declared a historic monument in 2008 and covers some 120 hectares. It features different types of volcanic formations such as caves and lava tunnels, as well as a marshy area and several endemic species of flora and fauna. The Azores bat, the archipelago's only endemic mammal species, makes its home here, along with several bird species such as the chaffinch, warbler, Azores wagtail, black kite, blackbird and woodcock. Vegetation includes laurel, endemic heather and acacia. As such, the area is protected as one of the 121 classified geosites within the Azores Global Geopark (Unesco).