Ponta do Sol is a picturesque village in the wonderful Madeira Island famous for its privileged souther sunny location and for the fertility of its soils. This was one of the first settlements in Madeira to be colonized.
It is said that the village’s toponym “ponta do sol” (“the sun’s point”) derivates from the discoverer of the Madeira island, João Gonçalves Zarco, on the 15th century, who saw on a rock a ound vein with some rays that made it look like the sun. Nevertheless, locals affirm that the toponym derivates from the fact that it is possible to observe, on the last eastern rock of the village, the sun rising and setting all year long.
The village presents a lovely historical centre, reminding of the ancient cosmopolitan tourist resorts, with its highlight on the beach, on the Mother Church and on the São Sebastião and Santo António Chapels.
In the Ponta do Sol region one has access to the most beautiful and secret inner of the Madeira Island, by unforgettable walks though the famous “Levadas”: water channels built as systems of irrigation and supplies of potable water used all over the Island over the centuries, in order to take advantage of this fertile soils with such a tough geography.
The “Levadas” are composed for about 2000km of canals that cross all the island. In Ponta do Sol it is possible to access the amazing Bica da Cana, Moinho, Nova dos Canhas or the Nova da Lombada Levadas, the perfect way to better appreciate this luxuriant nature force of Madeira.
Throughout the region there are several manor houses and mansions that show off the importance of agriculture in the region, that has produced throughout the centuries, and with the help of the referred irrigation systems, the freshest products the earth has to offer.
