Lagoa do Fogo

Lagoa do Fogo is a crater lake within the Água de Pau Massif stratovolcano in the center of the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The highest lake located on the island of São Miguel, the region is protected by governmental regulation that does not permit the construction around the lake.HistorySince 1974, the Lagoa do Fogo had been under the administration of national legislation as a protected area, forming the Reserva da Lagoa do Fogo an area that includes approximately 2182ha, founded by Decree-law 152/74 . It was also covered under a supplementary Decree-Law 9/79.The Reserva Natural da Lagoa do Fogo was created in 1982, under terms of Regional Decree 10/82/A on 18 June 1982. Part of the area was included in the Natura 2000 network, and classified as the Site of Communitarian Importance of Lagoa do Fogo.The nature reserve was integrated into the Nature Park of São Miguel, under Decree-Law 19/2008A, which included the entire watershed of the Laoga.GeographyLagoa do Fogo is one of the largest of the waterbodies in the Azores, and occupies the central caldera of the Água de Pau Massif, in the central area of the island of São Miguel. The caldera is the youngest volcano on the island of São Miguel, formed approximately 15 million years ago, resulting from the collapse at the top of the volcano, some 5 million years. The last eruption occurred in 1563. It falls within the borders of the civil parishes of Conceição, Matriz and Água de Alto, in the municipalities of Ribeira Grande and Vila Franca do Campo, respectively.