Evolução Urbana e Arquitectónica da Cidade de Angra do Heroísmo

Abstract

This study was made to analyse the formation and development of a Portuguese maritime expansion city. Being more than a series of historic events, cities reflect people, traditions and cultures. Expansion cities such as Angra do Heroísmo city wil always be important study focuses, since they were permanent places of experimentation and learning. From this small town departed not only people to the "new world", but also social, architectural and urban influences, that is, they took with them an image that can easily be recognised in many Portuguese expansion cities. The first references to Angra city appeared in the middle of the XV century, related to Álvaro Martins Homem, but it was João Vaz Corte Real that, at the end of the same century, Angra city is actually talked about. João Vaz Corte Real was the great founder of the urban renaissance plant that placed Angra in the UNESCO list in 1983. With two natural bays, sheltered by Monte Brasil, Angra combined the necessary conditions to serve as port of call. Until the XIX century, Angra depended on and enjoyed its privileged sea locations. In the architectural field, Angra city kept a simplified and austere line, necessary to the implantation on a seismic zone. The religious group had a fundamental role in the city image, as result of building of convents and churches. Many of these buildings still last, although having distinctive functions.