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Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores: Portas da Cidade, City Gates.
These impressive arched gateways were built in the 18th century and form the entrance to the city from the port and harbour onto Praca da Republica (Republic Square). Ponta Delgada became the capital city after the island's first capital city, Vila Franca do Campo was destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent flood of water and mud on October 22nd, 1522.
It is a busy capital city - the biggest on the Azores and has some fine Portuguese architecture, including many churches from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Black volcanic rock and white washed walls predominate here, as else where on the island. The old part of the city has many narrow streets, some of which are pedestrianised. Many of the shops here seem to be reminiscent of two or three decades ago, with their faded mannequins and old fashioned window dressing. However, out of town, there are modern shopping centres with the usual range of globally recognised shops and businesses, which are barely distinguishable from shopping malls you could find anywhere else in the world.
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You are viewing panorama No.35 (Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portas da Cidade, City Gates), one of 62 Virtual Reality 360 degree views of Azores.
Map of Azores showing the location of
Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portas da Cidade, City Gates at Latitude 37.73885 / Longitude -25.66781.
We have visited Azores on a number of occasions to produce this tour, this page was created on Wed, 24 Sep 2014 16:53:24 +0100.
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