Volcanoes of the Azores: Terceira and the Central Islands

The Volcanoes of the Azores shape the landscape and the daily life across all nine of these beautiful and distinctive Atlantic islands.

Azoreans have a symbiotic relationship with their volcanoes: the people have shaped the islands and the islands have shaped the people. Volcanic eruptions have profoundly influenced the islands’ history and culture – in the more obvious ways one might expect, when lives and livelihoods are threatened or an exodus is triggered by a seismic event. But also in more subtle ways: the Azorean environment may have aroused a little trepidation for other Europeans in the past, yet after almost 600 years, living side-by-side with volcanoes has become an integral part of the Azorean national character.

It’s often quite sobering to imagine life for the earliest settlers in 15^th century. In times of crisis, help was 1500km across the sea on mainland Portugal and the science of volcanology was way off in the future. An active volcano was often considered ‘a gateway to hell’ – an understandable reaction, when cataclysmic blasts echoed across the islands, the foul stench of sulphur filled the air, and the night sky glowed red with lava.

In modern times, geothermal energy generates clean electricity for homes and business, helping to reduce the islands’ reliance on expensive and imported fossil fuels. Meanwhile, (and perhaps unthinkable to those early settlers), the islands’ hot springs, thermal vents and naturally-heated swimming pools are a popular draw for visitors and an indispensable part of a great Azorean weekend.

Volcanoes of the Azores: Terceira and the Central Islands

This twelve-night island-hopping holiday takes you to four very different, but equally captivating Azorean islands. You’ll begin on Terceira, visiting the remains of the enormous 15km wide caldera which created the island at Serra do Cume, the active fumarole fields at Furnas do Enxofre, and you’ll head down into the 3000-year-old volcanic chimney at Algar do Carvao.

It’s a short hop by plane to the neighbouring island of Sao Jorge, one of the Azores’ most beautiful rural islands, with its striking sea cliffs and coastal fajas. You’ll visit the lighthouse at Ponta dos Rosais, the remote village of Faja dos Cubres, and the site of the famous 1808 eruption in Urzelina.

A ferry takes you to your next destination: the island of Pico. Perhaps most famous for its colossal 2351m stratovolcano (which you’ll have the option of climbing), Pico’s volcanic landscape is one of the youngest and has a more barren feel – the lava tunnels at Gruta das Torres are mere babies at just 1500 years old. You’ll also visit the island’s UNESCO-protected vineyards where the volcanic, mineral-rich soil helps producers create many of the Azores’ most-celebrated wines.

Your final stop is the small maritime island of Faial. Horta, its main harbour town, has been key to trans-Atlantic travel and communications for over 500 years, thanks to the natural shelter the Monte da Gua volcano provides. You’ll visit the lava flows from the 1672 Cabeco do Fogo eruption, the remains of the Farol da Ponta da Ribeirinha lighthouse which was destroyed in the 1998 earthquake, and Capelinhos: the site of Faial’s last major volcanic eruption which lasted 13 months from September 1957 to October 1958. Over 2km² of land were created during the eruption, and you’ll see how this new peninsula is slowly being reclaimed by the sea.

Our guides are great at optimising your time without your days feeling rushed or hurried, and they’re experts on combining the more well-known sights with the secret spots you’d otherwise miss. They’ll also help to bring the geology and history of the islands to life, whilst giving you an insight into 21^st century Azorean culture.

The Geology

The Azores archipelago straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, at a junction point between the North American, Nubian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The islands owe their very existence to this junction – the ‘Azores Platform’, as it’s known – and it extends from the small islands of Flores and Corvo in the west to Santa Maria in the east.

It’s geologically complex: Flores and Corvo sit on the western-side of the plate boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates, with the other seven islands of the Azores on the eastern-side. The plates are slowly moving apart, increasing the distance between Flores and the main island of Sao Miguel by around 25mm each year.

The islands of Faial and Pico are closest to the Mid Atlantic Ridge, whilst the neighbouring island of Sao Jorge is the result of its own transform fault. Across the channel, the Terceira Rift is an alignment of volcanic peaks and tectonic basins, running from Graciosa in the northwest, through the island of Terceira to the western part of Sao Miguel.

The East Azores Fracture Zone marks the boundary between the Nubian and Eurasian plates – past Santa Maria, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge meets the Gloria fault and the western segment of the Azores-Gibraltar Fracture Zone.