Piedade and the Ponta da Ilha lighthouse

The end of the island

Piedade is the easternmost parish on Pico and part of Lajes do Pico municipality. The island ends here at a point, the Ponta da Ilha. Most visitors never get this far: from Madalena and the ferry it is the full length of the island, and that drive is the main reason to plan a day around it rather than tack it on.

The municipality dates the settlement to before 1506. In 1755 an earthquake destroyed the parish church and many of the houses, and the church that stands on the Largo da Igreja today is a nineteenth-century building with three naves.

What to see

The Ponta da Ilha lighthouse, also called the Manhenha lighthouse, stands at the tip of the island. The municipality describes it as the most recent lighthouse in the Azores, built in 1946, and records it in good condition.

Below it the parish has two small fishing harbours, at Manhenha and at Calhau. At Calhau two nineteenth-century boat shelters still stand by the harbour, now used as stores, and the ruined chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Rocha sits on the cliff above. Inland, the municipality also lists a twentieth-century windmill with a turning wooden cap at Canada do Miguel and the Matos Souto forest park, which houses the island's nature conservation and environment services.

Piedade was once an important Verdelho wine area, and the municipality still counts it among the most productive farming parishes on the island. The best-known vineyard walls today are elsewhere: in the west at Criação Velha, and on the north coast at Santa Luzia.

How it fits a trip

Treat Piedade as a day out from Lajes or from São Roque do Pico rather than as a base. Combine the lighthouse with lunch at Adega Açoriana, the restaurant listed for this end of the island, and call ahead first: a closed door at the far end of a long drive is the failure this corner punishes. The Museu dos Baleeiros at Lajes is on the way back along the south coast. See Pico's villages for how the parishes compare as a place to stay.

What this page does not tell you

Whether the lighthouse grounds are open to visitors, and on which days, has not been checked against a primary source. Nothing here about swimming or access to the harbours is stated, because it has not been verified.