Sirens of the Azores
Vila Franca do Campo
A drowned crater, a kilometre offshore
What is it?
The rim of a volcano, standing in the sea about 1,200 metres off the town.
Formed by a Surtseyan eruption roughly four thousand years ago — the kind that happens when magma meets shallow water. The crater is near-circular, about 150 metres across, and open to the Atlantic through one narrow channel.
Two parts: Ilhéu Grande, the main ring, and Ilhéu Pequenino off its north-east coast. The Farilhão stack stands 32.5 metres high, twenty metres off the main islet.
What happened here in 1522?
On the night of 21–22 October 1522, at about two in the morning, the town on the shore was buried.
It was not simply an earthquake. Macroseismic intensity X. The shock hit ground saturated by torrential rain, in low-density pumice, and brought down roughly 6,750,000 cubic metres of material from the Ribeira da Mãe d'Água and Monte Rabaçal. It moved at one to three metres a second and reached the centre of town within minutes. Around a hundred more died at the port, from the tsunami.
Between three and five thousand people died in Vila Franca, and further thousands at Ponta Garça, Maia and Porto Formoso.
On the date: most sources give 22 October; one gives 20 October. We use 22 October and tell you the variant exists.
And on the source: the fullest account is Gaspar Frutuoso, writing in Saudades da Terra roughly seventy years after the event. It is the best record there is. It is not a contemporary one.
THE PART THAT CHANGED THE ISLAND.
Vila Franca do Campo was the capital. Raised to vila in 1472, founded by Gonçalo Vaz Botelho, it was the principal town of São Miguel and the administrative centre of the archipelago.
After 1522 the people, the commerce and the power moved west to Ponta Delgada, and never came back. The capital of the Azores is where it is because of one night in October.
Two more dated facts for the same town: in 1562, after a naval action off São Miguel, the Spanish victors executed several hundred French and Portuguese prisoners in the town. On 18 March 1900 it became the first municipality on São Miguel to receive electricity.
Is it protected?
Classified a Reserva Natural on 3 March 1983 by Decreto Legislativo Regional n.º 3/83/A, after the Regional Government bought it.
Reclassified in 2008 under DLR n.º 19/2008/A of 8 July, which created the Parque Natural da Ilha de São Miguel. It is code SMG06, an Área Protegida para a Gestão de Habitats ou Espécies.
Can I visit?
Only in season, and only with a ticket.
Season: Roughly mid-June to mid-October
Daily Cap: 400 visitors
Boats: Hourly from the Marina de Vila Franca do Campo, about ten minutes
Booking: Online, through the Clube Naval de Vila Franca do Campo
Facilities: None. Carry your rubbish back out
The rules change from year to year. In the 2025 season landing and swimming were closed entirely and replaced by a boat circuit without disembarking. Check the current season before you plan a day around it.