Praia do Almoxarife

Praia do Almoxarife is a freguesia ("civil parish") in the municipality of Horta, of the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 834, in an area of 9.20 km². Although it was the beachhead of early settlement on the island, its population has not grown significantly since it was settled. It has become an important summer destination and tourist center for its long black sand beach.HistoryPraia was originally a beachhead of settlement on Faial, first used by as a beachhead for explorers, and then by new colonists coming to settle the central group of the Azores. In 1466, Josse van Huerter and his Flemish compatriots landed on the beach in a misguided hope of discovery precious metals (in particular tin and silver). Their settlement abridged the Lomba dos Frades, where they stayed for about a year. There was a falling out between Huerter and his crew, and he narrowly escaped the island with his life. He later returned in 1466-67, with a commission from the Duchess of Burgundy to settle and populate the islands in the name of the crown of Portugal. Quickly, he discovered that the area's limitations continued, and he abandoned this settlement in favour of the adjacent valley, later known as the Vale dos Flamengos (Valley of the Flems); some island chroniclers blamed the abandon of Praia on the lack of a potable water source.Meanwhile, other settlers continued to occupy this region, where a small settlement persisted through the decades. Praia, likely, received its current toponymy (based in Moorish or Islamic origin) for being the point of settlement for the administrator of lands or royal treasurer on the island; almoxarife means treasurer, a term now in disuse in Portugal, but which refers to an agent responsible for guarding, distributing, inventorying goods or supplies.