February 2025.
Ribeira Grande, São Miguel, Portugal.

As I stepped off the bus and we walked to the town square (Largo da Matriz), I was reminded of a visit to the International Peace Garden in North Dakota. In the garden, the border between Canada and the United States is demarcated by a brick pattern, allowing me to straddle two countries by putting one foot in Canada and one foot in the United States. In Ribeira Grande’s Matriz Square, one foot can stand on the east side, the other on the west. Underneath my feet, the river flows beneath ancient arches.

The river that is the town’s namesake divides the city into east and west. Looking north, the river is clearly flowing out to sea. Across the plaza, flanked by basalt buildings and gardens, the river flows through the center point of everyday life.

Across the arch bridge, the divided city, the second largest on the island, sprawls southward. On my recent visit, I found the architecture to reflect that the square held both history and daily rhythm in balance. Ribeira Grande became a town on August 4, 1507, with historic roots going back over five centuries. Yet it took almost 475 years before it was formally recognized as a city in 1981.

One prominent building in the square is The Ribeira Grande City Hall, a historic medieval structure that has housed the municipal council since the 16th century. The city hall itself is hidden behind that blue building, but the clock tower dominates this view of the city square. The original municipal hall was destroyed by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in the mid-1560s.

Teatro Ribeiragrandense (Ribeira Grande Theater) is one of Ribeira Grande’s more recent cultural landmarks, right in the heart of the town square. Opened in 1933, the theater blends eclectic architecture with civic pride. Built initially as both a theater and cinema, it’s hosted everything from plays and film screenings to festivals and public gatherings. After being acquired by the city in 1988, it underwent renovations that lasted until 2000, modernizing its interior while preserving its historic character. I found the theater’s schedule here and used Google Translate to display the site for me in English. In addition to the live performances, a Film Festival is scheduled for September 24-29, 2025.

As we toured the square, the skies threatened, and a light shower gave way to heavy rain just as our group sought shelter underneath a wide arch big enough to protect the entire group. During the downpour, our guide continued his lesson about life in Ribeira Grande. As the rain subsided, I captured a photo of the street leading to the square from underneath the arch.

The entrance of the Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Estrela (Main Parish Church Our Lady of the Star) is across the square from the theater. Before the grand staircase even begins its climb, we were greeted by a solemn statue of a robed figure clutching a book. Dr. Gaspar Frutuoso, a 16th-century Azorean priest, historian, and humanist, served as vicar in Ribeira Grande from 1565 until he died in 1591.

The wide basalt steps lead our eyes up to the church’s stunning façade with three green doors framed by white-trimmed windows, with holiday-lit “banners” on either side of the Virgin Mary. Above, a cross and a star ornament crown the building. Though the church entrance looked inviting, from the base of the stairs, those of a certain age may be deterred by the climb. Our guide came to our rescue, noting that on the left side of the church, a sloping sidewalk on the nearby street allowed us to avoid the grand stairs, leaving only a few steps at the base of the church doors to climb.

The parish of Matriz in Ribeira Grande began in the late 1400s with a small hermitage dedicated to Our Lady of Purification. Still, by 1507, just before Ribeira Grande was declared a town, construction began on a proper parish church. Over the years, the parish weathered volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and even the collapse of its bell tower in the 17th century. Each setback was met with resilience, as locals rebuilt and expanded the church, adding chapels, altars, and artistic flourishes that reflected both faith and craftsmanship.

As our tour concluded, we walked toward a street to be picked up by our tour bus for our trip back to Porta Delgada. We walked by these two gnarly trees planted adjacent to the church. As we awaited the bus’s arrival, the twisted trunks and heavy canopies offered a final moment to contemplate our visit to the historic city square. The trees are not native to the island, yet there they were, deeply rooted in its landscape, resilient, graceful, and shaped by time.

About the photos: Captured with my Nikon Z7 II, the images were processed in Adobe Lightroom Classic and Luminar Neo. The opening photo is a panoramic view created in Adobe Lightroom Classic by stitching two images. In some pictures, AI technology was used to remove distractions outside, and several people were removed from the image of the interior of the church using Photoshop 2025. I published these photos of the tour on my Flickr site in 2K HD here for those interested in pixel-peeping or checking out the metadata.

John Steiner