Calheta: Travel and tourism

Calheta lies surrounded by vineyards and banana plantations (an abundant crop in Madeira). It also used to be the centre of the sugar-cane production, but today there is only one factory left where cane syrup is turned into rum and which is open to visitors.

The mother church dates from the 15th century and contains an ebony and silver tabernacle donated by King Manuel I.

An example of Manueline architecture can be seen at about two kilometres from Calheta, where the 15th-century chapel at Loreto exibits a fine portal and a ceiling with geometrical patterns.

Another chapel worth visiting is Capela dos Três Reis Magos, in Lombo dos Reis, just outside Estreito de Calheta, with its 16th-century Flemish altar carving picturing the adoration of the Magi.

As elsewhere in the sunny south coast of the island, the climate is nearly always mild, and the beauty of the scenery, with its lush vegetation, invites the visitor to explore the mountains and valleys, dotted with small villages of white houses.