A Trip to Madeira - Calheta

On my last article I took a trip to the arid east of Madeira, on this one I’m going to show you the opposite, by going to the west. The farthest west I’ve gone before was Câmara de Lobos, but that is still too close to the center, unlike Calheta. Calheta is the western region of Madeira, and what I came to understand is that it’s full of the islands history but it still aims to have a more modern taste too, with sandy beaches and modern museums!

Calheta and the Mill

The region of Calheta is vast, the biggest in the island I was told, but there is a small village with the same name, this is where I stopped first. Calheta is very modest, still full of the vegetation and hills that we grow so accustomed to in Madeira. And in this spirit of the olden days I decided to pay a visit to a historically important place, the Engenho da Calheta.

It’s in this kinds of mills that a lot of Madeiras’s typical delicacies are made, and the mill, which maintains a look almost identical to it’s inception, also doubles as a museum that takes you step by step on the process of creating the regional sugarcane syrup, and other related products like the sugarcane rum. Then at the end you’ll be greeted with a store and café area where you can taste and buy the products that are made in the mill, like the ever typical Poncha (a common yet potent alcoholic beverage) that get no better that in Calheta, or the honey cake, or syrup cake, has it’s main component is the aforementioned sugarcane syrup, so it is a absurdly sweet cake. The mill has a annual celebration that brings in a lot of people from the island, including the mayor, where, to proof the resilience of the cake, the whole audience eats a huge cake made in the previous year, has they make a new one to eat in the next. It’s a strange yet proven to be successful ritual that the people of Calheta make.

MUDAS Museum

Also near Calheta, at the top of a hill, with a view to the town and it’s beach, lies the museum of modern art, MUDAS. Named after the mute sisters that lived on the old house there (legend says), this museum is marvel to the eyes. It has received many international praises to it’s architecture but it also has a very wide and important artistic value, having works from many national artists, galleries and workshops where you can learn more about art and many educational events not just for a younger audience! And besides that, is just a soothing place to be, with a privileged view to the ocean between it’s sober structure. Be sure to check it out!

That’s going to be all for now, my next article is going to compliment this one since it’s one the same trip to the west but this time to mingle with the animals on the farm of Prazeres!