Each year Christmas is celebrated around the world, making Christmas time the most popular festive season. It brings out a multitude of traditions everywhere; but especially so on the Island of Madeira.
Madeira, an autonomous island off the North African coast, was rediscovered by Portuguese sailors in the early fourteen hundreds and has since belonged to Portugal.
The island’s customs are a legacy from the Catholic Portuguese explorers who chanced upon this island archipelago more than 500 years ago. Even then, Madeira was thought of as something special.
The island, at the same latitude as Casablanca, is extraordinarily cool during the summer and warm during the winter months due to the famous trade winds. This superb climate is the reason for Madeira’s amazing growing season. This “Flower Island” rightfully deserves its name because the “Christmas Star” blooms here in abundance in December, covering the island in a mass of red blooms.
All are captivated by the island’s rugged terrain. Madeira is a mere 35 km long and 13 km wide, but a volcanic spine, the extinct crater, deep valleys, and peaked mountain tops make the island look much larger and more interesting than other, similarly-sized islands.
Madeira, an autonomous island off the North African coast, was rediscovered by Portuguese sailors in the early fourteen hundreds and has since belonged to Portugal.
The island’s customs are a legacy from the Catholic Portuguese explorers who chanced upon this island archipelago more than 500 years ago. Even then, Madeira was thought of as something special.
The island, at the same latitude as Casablanca, is extraordinarily cool during the summer and warm during the winter months due to the famous trade winds. This superb climate is the reason for Madeira’s amazing growing season. This “Flower Island” rightfully deserves its name because the “Christmas Star” blooms here in abundance in December, covering the island in a mass of red blooms.
All are captivated by the island’s rugged terrain. Madeira is a mere 35 km long and 13 km wide, but a volcanic spine, the extinct crater, deep valleys, and peaked mountain tops make the island look much larger and more interesting than other, similarly-sized islands.
