São Miguel Island, Island in the Azores, Portugal
São Miguel sits in the Atlantic and is the largest island of the Azores, with black sand beaches, crater lakes, and hot springs rising from volcanic bedrock. The landscape shifts between green pastures, dense forests, and valleys with steaming fumaroles.
Settlers from Portugal arrived between 1426 and 1437 and founded Vila Franca do Campo, until an earthquake in 1522 shifted the capital to Ponta Delgada. Later waves of immigrants from Flanders and France shaped the agriculture and the names of villages.
Residents still carry nicknames inherited from early settlers, and many family names trace back to Flemish and French immigrants. At weekly markets, vendors display pineapples grown in glasshouses and tea from local plantations, both cultivated here since the 1800s.
João Paulo II Airport sits on the south coast and links the island to Lisbon, Porto, and some destinations in Europe. Local buses run to larger towns, while a rental car eases access to remote craters and stretches of coastline.
In Furnas, underground ovens use geothermal heat to prepare Cozido das Furnas, a stew of meat and vegetables that cooks there for six hours. Chefs lift heavy lids at midday and pull steaming pots from the ground, while visitors watch along the lake shore.
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