Tourism

Igreja Paroquial de Nossa Senhora do Pilar

On the tower there is a marble plaque with the following inscription: "CHURCH OF NOSSA SENHORA DO PILAR / GOLDEN JUBILEE COMMEMORATION / 1953 - 2003". Around 1715 - according to Father António Cordeiro, about thirty neighbors requested permission from the Bishop of Angra, D. Frei Clemente Vieira, for the disannexation, asking for a parish priest who would continuously assist them; for this, they offered to erect at their own expense a church dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Pilar; the donatary captain, D. Martinho Mascarenhas, 6th Count of Santa Cruz, conveyed his agreement to the bishop, offering to build and adorn the chancel of the new temple and to donate the image of Nossa Senhora do Pilar; 1690 - the dean of the See, meanwhile vacant due to the bishop’s death, decided to issue the necessary charter; July 9, 1693 - elevation of the locality of Cedros to a parish, its first parish priest being Father Domingos Furtado de Mendonça, with an annual income of 24$000, two parts in wheat and one in money, paid at the expense of the Commendation of the Islands of Flores and Corvo, then belonging to the Count of Santa Cruz; 1693 - conclusion of the church, with the donatary captain count contributing to the chancel; 1719 - enlargement of the church; two plaques were found during the demolition of the church, one bearing the coat of arms of D. Martinho Mascarenhas and the other a cross topped with the dates 1693 and 1719; 1822 - rebuilding of the church; 1868 - a report by the civil governor of the Horta district, António José Vieira Santa Rita, considered it in poor condition, with vestments and ornaments very deteriorated, and without a cemetery, so burials were made in the churchyard; September 1945 - demolition of the old church, due to lack of solidity, with religious service transferred to the neighboring Casa do Espírito Santo; January 22, 1950 - laying of the first stone for the construction of the church at the initiative of the vicar, Father José Maria Alvares; July 18, 1953 - inauguration of the church, with the blessing presided over by Father João de Fraga Vieira, vicar of Lomba; after mass, the Blessed Sacrament was transferred from the Casa do Divino Espírito Santo to the new temple

Igreja Nossa Senhora de Lurdes

The Church of Nossa Senhora de Lourdes stands over a small farming community on Flores Island, in the Azores, Portugal. The church was built on top of a hill in 1909, in this agricultural community north of Santa Cruz das Flores. Both the exterior, flanked by two towers, and the interior are very simple, typical of churches in smaller Azorean communities.

Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição

The Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição is the parish church of the town of Santa Cruz das Flores. Its construction began in 1859, making it one of the most imposing churches in the archipelago. With two bell towers, the facade is adorned with profuse stonework and large windows. Inside, note the valuable decoration of the chancel.

Environmental Interpretation Center of Boqueirão

The Environmental Interpretation Center of Boqueirão was designed within the tanks where whale oil, melted at the Boqueirão Whaling Factory, used to be stored. It is a space dedicated to promoting knowledge about the island’s most environmentally significant locations, with a special focus on marine environments. Here, you can learn about resident and migratory birds, intertidal and water column organisms, cetaceans, and hydrothermal vents. It is a prime location for disseminating scientific knowledge, enriching the experience of those visiting the Natural Park. This Center was included in the Guide to Architecture – South and Islands of Portugal, published in 2011; and in the project "Iberian Architectural Heritage Exhibition – LaMIPA," within the scope of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2013 – Close, Closer. It has also been referenced and published on various specialized websites and magazines.

Fábrica da Baleia

The Fábrica da Baleia do Boqueirão (Boqueirão Whaling Factory) is located at the northeastern tip of the town of Santa Cruz das Flores. The building’s placement was determined by its purpose, as a sperm whale processing point on the island, situated directly above the port of Boqueirão, at an altitude of about 27 meters. It is a building that stands out in the urban landscape due to its volume and the size of its chimney. It is part of a factory complex that includes the dismantling platform and the slipway, both located on the northern side of the building, consisting of four rectangular bodies, perpendicular to each other, and a cylindrical chimney, totaling an area of about 1850 m2. Built between 1941 and 1944 by the whaling company Reis & Flores, with Francisco Marcelino dos Reis and José Jacinto Mendonça Flores as majority partners, it operated until 1984. Purchased by the Municipal Council of Santa Cruz das Flores shortly after, it served the municipality until 1992 as a material warehouse, locksmith, mechanics, and painting workshop, with the exception of the east wing of the building. This wing, composed of two large rooms and the pump house, contiguous to these, was ceded by the Municipal Council to the Museum of Art and Popular Tradition of the island, for a later installation of the Sea Arts Section. In that year, recovery work on the machinery began, which would last about a year. Despite the first attempt at conservation for museological purposes, the factory remained abandoned for more than 10 years, having received in 1999 the classification of Property of Public Interest (Resolution nº67/99, of April 29). In 2006, a new project for the musealization of the Factory began, which includes the recovery of the machinery and the rehabilitation of the building, with a second floor being added to the west wing and a roof covering an adjacent area, which was originally open-air. The maintenance of the original roof, the masonry walls, and the original concrete structures, as well as the size of the machinery installed here, immediately transport the visitor’s imagination to the days of work in the factory and to the times when whaling was part of the island’s daily life. The inauguration of the museum took place in 2015, under the tutelage of the company Ilhas de Valor S.A, being since 2022 an annex of the Flores Museum. Here the visitor learns about the history of whaling on the island and the entire process of hunting and transforming the sperm whale.