Graciosa

Graciosa Island is referred to as the White Island, the northernmost of the Central Group of islands in the Azores. The ovular Portuguese island has an area of 60.65km2, a length of 10km and a width of 7km. It is a volcanic island, dominated by a 1.6km central caldera located in the southeast.HistoryIn addition to the other islands of the Central Group, Graciosa was explored by Portuguese navigators during the first quarter of the 15th Century. Although there exists no accounts of the first sighting of the island. May 2, 1450 has frequently been referred to as the date of the islands "discovery", although there exists no documentation to support this date. Paradoxically, it is clear that in 1440, by order of Prince Henry the Navigator, cattle and swine were settled on the island in order to facilitate colonization.Similarly, it is unclear the names of the first settlers to colonize the island, although around 1450 the first colonists were probably slaves (but formal registries did not exist at the time). The first group of settlers of note to be mentioned were led by Vasco Gil Sodré, a former resident of Montemor-o-Velho, who arrived from Terceira accompanied by his family and servants around the middle of the 1450s. It was this pioneer who inaugurated the official phase of continuous settlement on the island.The first population center was in Carapacho, a zone in the southeast of the island where it is likely that settlers made landfall. Owing to the areas poor fertility and lack of shelter from the sea, the settlers moved farther into the interior. In a few years a nucleus formed in the northern coast near Barra and Santa Cruz, in order to take advantage of the sheltered coves and access to potable waters from the tidal ponds/wells. From here the colony that would become the village of Santa Cruz da Graciosa would form.