Fajã das Almas

The Fajã das Almas, also known as Fajã do Calhau, is a debris field, known as a fajã, built from the collapsing cliffs on the southern coast of the civil parish of Manadas, in the municipality of Velas, island of São Jorge, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.HistoryThis fajã contains two hermitages, the Hermitage of Nossa Senhora das Almas, situated in the area of Barbós, and the Hermitage of Santo Cristo, constructed in 1876. On 9 September 1880, the hermitage of Santo Cristo suffered a fire, and was reconstructed through initiatives of the Baron of Ribeiro, Francisco José de Bettencourt e Ávila, and was consecrated on 14 January 1882. Near this church is a cistern, which was also ordered built by the Baron, who was one of the principal proprietors of the fajã.In 1981, the fajã had 78 residents, but along the preceding years, this population slowly decreased to the point that there were only five permanent inhabitants.Yet, through the reconstruction of the accessway to the fajã, the number of buildings in the fajã have increased, principally by emigrants.GeographyIt is accessed by a roadway that winds down to fajã, to a platform with limited parking. From this point the homes and coastal area reachable by foot or by small single-engine vehicles.The port is used for small-scale fishing, from along the coast and in the channel, which includes the capture of Gadiformes such as Atlantic horse mackerel. The more frequent migratory and marine birds in the fajã include: sea-gulls, terns, shearwaters, kites, blackbirds and even wild ducks, as well as occasionally sandpipers.