Terceira, the third island of the Azores to be discovered (hence its name), lies in the centre of the archipelago and is the second most populous. Its main town, Angra do Heroísmo, is one of the most beautiful and historic cities in the Atlantic.
Angra do Heroísmo
For centuries Angra was a vital port of call for ships returning from India and the Americas laden with gold, silver and spices, which stopped here before reaching Lisbon. Its centre, with a sixteenth-century grid plan, colourful mansions with balconies, Baroque churches and cobbled streets, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983. The title "do Heroísmo" was given after the nineteenth-century civil war, when Terceira was the Liberal stronghold: in 1829, in the bay of Praia da Vitória, the Liberals repelled a landing by absolutist troops. Badly damaged by the earthquake of 1 January 1980, the city has been carefully rebuilt.
Visit the cathedral, the Captains-General palace, the Angra Museum in the former São Francisco convent, the Duque da Terceira garden, which climbs to the Alto da Memória obelisk with its view over the city, and the Monte Brasil peninsula, an extinct wooded volcano with the fortress of São João Baptista, one of the largest built by the Spanish during the union of the crowns.
The island interior
Algar do Carvão is a rare volcanic chimney you descend to a small lake, among silica stalactites: one of the few in the world open to visitors. Nearby are the Furnas do Enxofre fumaroles. From the Serra do Cume viewpoint you see Terceira's most typical landscape, a mosaic of green pastures divided by lava-stone walls, like a patchwork quilt. In the north, at Biscoitos, you can swim in natural pools among black lava rocks and visit the local wine museum; the wine comes from vineyards enclosed by stone walls.
Festivals and food
Terceira is the island of festivals: it is dotted with impérios, small colourful chapels devoted to the cult of the Holy Spirit, with festivals and food handouts from Pentecost through the summer; in June the Sanjoaninas liven up Angra. Very popular is the tourada à corda, in which a bull, tied to a long rope held by men, runs through village streets. The signature dish is alcatra, beef slow-cooked in wine in clay pots, and the most famous sweet is Dona Amélia, with cinnamon, molasses and candied fruit.
Getting there
Terceira airport, at Lajes, shared with the air base used by the United States, has flights from Lisbon, Porto and the other islands. Angra is about 20 minutes from the airport.