Madeira Portugal 2021 | Walk around Beautiful Monte, Funchal
Welcome to this walk with us through beautiful Monte, Madeira The temperature is a pleasant 26 degrees. It's 1pm on a Saturday afternoon. We're passing through our favourite coffee stop. Of course being Monte, it has spectacular views. The botanical garden cable car station is to our right. Monte was created in 1565 as a summer refuge for wealthy families of Funchal.
Emperor Charles I of Austria died in exile here on 1 April 1922. His residence on the island was the Quinta do Monte close to the parochial church. Here's the details of the botanical gardens cable car. Between 1893 and 1943, Monte was connected to Funchal by a railway.
But it was deactivated during the Second World War. The parish also some lovely lavada walks (water channels). These lavada's were constructed to transport water between Monte and Camaca. The restaurant coming up has a beautiful verandah at the back. The restaurant serves really good locally made cakes. We're now approaching the main cable car station.
This Gondola lift goes between Funchal and Monte. The departing station in Funchal is located at Parque Almirante Reis. The journey time is 15 minutes.
It has 39 cabs with 8 seats... each carrying approximately 800 passengers per hour. Here's one of the best viewpoints of Funchal.
Here are the free public toilets by the way! Monte is noted for its established gardens and greenspaces. Many are open to the public. We're just approaching Monte Palace tropical gardens. Monte's famous 'basket cars' began operating in the late 19th century. ... to descend the three kilometres to Funchal. This tobogan run is one of the most popular features of Monte.
You'll see them coming up soon. You can also see the full journey down to Funchal, in a following video. You can spend a good part of the day in the gardens.
Check out the swans on the central lake and the peacocks too. Here's the entry details for the Palace. By the way as well as exotic trees & flowers, ponds, African sculptures in the gardens... There's also an interesting mineral museum. The ticket to Monte Palace Tropical Garden... gives you free Madeira wine tasting...
on the beautiful terrace of the cafe. There are 17,000 square meters of gardens. The views from Monte of the capital town of Funchal are spectacular. You'll see what I mean as we continue our walk. we're now approaching the basket cars and their dapper drivers. They enable visitors to be transported 2 kilometres downhill to Livramento.
From here you can walk 30 minutes, or taxi into Funchal. Details of the cost of the ride is coming up. We'll now make our way to the church and take a look inside. The church Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte was built in 1741. The church is built on the foundations of a primitive 15th century chapel It was later enlarged to accommodate the growing number of church-goers. ... but it was subsequently destroyed in 1748 by an earthquake. The current structure was completed in 1818.
It's the most important pilgrimage site in Madeira. Lively processions honoring Our Lady of Monte... ... are held on 15th August every year. You'll see the church contains elegant chandeliers. The church also contains beautiful pieces of gold and silverwork... ... crafted in the 17th and 18th centuries It also contains the tomb of Charles I of Habsburg, the last emperor of Austria...
... who went into exile in Madeira in 1921. Pause if you want to know more about the church. In the atrium of the church you can find the statue of the Emperor. Pause if you want to know more. Opening times: Tuesday through Saturday 09.00-19.00.
Sunday and Monday 09.00-18.00 Mass is on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 18.00 and Wednesday at 08.30. And Saturday at 18.00 and Sunday at 08.00 We hope you enjoy the thrilling basket ride part way down with us.
As I mentioned, you can see the full journey into Funchal in a following video. We have lots more video's of Madeira here on our channel. So I hope you'll join us again for a virtual meander.
2021-10-19 11:13
