Oporto-Santo (or Oporto Santo ) is the second inhabited island of the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean, to 50 km in the North-East of the principal island. Oporto Santo is also called " The Dorée" island; (Ilha Dourada in Portuguese) because of the desert color of its landscapes and its long gilded sand beach. It is a volcanic island of origin, formed several million years ago on a hot spot, now inactive, which gave birth thereafter to Madeira and the Désertes islands. The culminating point is Pico de Facho (peak of the torch) with 541 meters.

The population is estimated at a little more than 4500 inhabitants for a surface of 43 km ². The principal city is Vila Baleira.

The island saw primarily tourism, with a sand beach fine white of more than 7 km and a very pleasant climate. The island is in tourist rapid development, in particular on the southern part.

The island is accessible by ferry from Madeira, and plane, its airport laying out of a track of 3000 m, from Madeira, Lisbon and Oporto in particular.

The Portuguese navigator João Gonçalves Zarco in taken possession, in the name of Portugal, in 1419 (the already known island appears as of XIVè S on an Italian Atlas), it named the Oporto-Santo island (in Portuguese Saint-Port) because there would be at sea found refuge after a storm. Christophe Colomb lived on the island, and is even married the girl of the governor of the time with which it had a son Diego Colomb.

Bibliography to be supplemented

• the discoveries of Oporto Santo and Madeira are described in the Crónica C descobrimento E conquista da Guiné , written by Gomes Eanes de Zurara of 1457 to 1465. This book is translated by professors Leon Bourdon and Robert Ricard: Chronic of Guinea (Chandeigne Editions).

• a historical novel of Arkan Simaan takes again the account of Zurara: the Rider of Henri the Navigator , Harmattan, 2007.

External bond

• Tourist office of Madeira
• porto-santo.info Presentation of the island of Oporto Santo (site perso)