São Mateus parish
Inhabited by the first settlers in 1482 and over five-hundred years old, São Mateus was the third community on the island to be inhabited and it is the oldest parish in the municipality of Madalena.
It is one of the two parishes of the municipality which is irrigated by the brooks Grote, Calheta and Bodes. São Mateus covers the sites and communities of Areeiro, Bagaças, Cabeços, Caminho de Baixo, Grotas, Gingeiras, Mata, Pontinha, Porto and Relvas.
As the soil is fertile, the parish is divided into four clear areas of distinct agricultural activity: "Biscoitos", which stretches along the sea, "Bagaços", the vineyard and orchard areas and the “pastures” on the mountain slopes, where cattle graze.
This is one of the parishes of the municipality where, to this day, we find the remnants of the whaling activity. Witnesses of the past are the old whale lookout points, constructions on high places, which were built with the intent of observing the sea and sighting whales, and the boat houses next to São Mateus port, practically in ruin.
The parish church of St. Matthew, built in 1838, is one of the most majestic churches on the island of Pico. Its main grandiose structure is divided into three naves, by two series of six arches. Inside we find the statue of Miraculous Lord Jesus, offered in 1862 by Francisco Ferreira Goulart, an emmigrant of the Azores in Brasil.
On 1 July 1962, by decree issued by the Bishop of the Diocese of Angra do Heroísmo, Dom Manuel Afonso de Carvalho, this temple was designated Sanctuary of the Diocese.
Also, its heritage and the elegant natural landscapes include the vineyards of Currais de Pedra, classified as Regional Heritage, the chapels of Our Lady of Conception, the Holy Trinity, our Lady of Joy and St. John, the niche of Our Lady of Pain, the Empires of the Holy Spirit and the Lighthouse.
Rent-a-Car 'Oásis'
+351 292 642 372 
+351 292 642 905 
