São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal - Travel Photos by Galen R Frysinger, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

São Miguel Island

Ponta Delgada

São Miguel Island, Portuguese for Saint Michael), nicknamed "The Green Island", is the largest and most populous of the Azores Islands archipelago. The island covers 759 km² (293 sq mi) and has around 140,000 inhabitants (called Micaelenses); the largest town is Ponta Delgada, with about 45,000 inhabitants.

Holy Ghost Festival

More Photos of the Holy Ghost Festival church

Photos of the gathering worshipers

São Miguel 64 km from east to west, and between 8 and 14 km wide. Named the "Green (Verde) Island", São Miguel is largely covered with fields and meadows in the lowlands. The ancient laurisilva forest has been mostly replaced by exotic vegetation.

hot spring at Furnas

More Photos of Furnas

Some hot springs (caldeiras) appear mostly in the center of the island, which is composed of an old solid mass that stretches from Povoação to Nordeste. São Miguel has 3 stratovolcanoes and caldeiras, Sete Cidades, Agua de Pau, Caldeiras and finally Furnas. The volcanic masses are connected between the alignments of the cone-like mass that are made up of peaks.

Miradouro de Santa Iria

The peak area between Sete Cidades and Fogo is a monogenetic volcanic field composed of 270 volcanoes. They are primarily made up of basaltic cones which were formed during Strombolian and Hawaiian-style eruptions. It is the most recently active area of the island. The youngest volcanoes are relatively well dated. It is possible to count 19 eruptions which have occurred 3,000 years ago. One eruption was historical and is known as Fogo 2, it occurred in 1652.