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The Azores (Açores), Portugal
March 2001

Furnas Scenery, Island of São Miguel

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Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions Furnas Valley Furnas is a Portuguese word that is similar to its English cognate "Furnace," and it describes a town and a region in a broad interior valley on the eastern side of São Miguel. Furnas rests in a caldera basin surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is certainly one of the larger, if not the largest, of São Miguel’s interior towns. As we drove up onto the central mountain ridge the town of Furnas came into view nestled far below. It is a popular spa and resort destination. Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions Lagoa das Furnas Lagoa das Furnas resides within the same caldera. Deep basins sometimes form when volcanoes collapse and become natural cisterns for collecting rainfall and groundwater. There is nowhere for the water to flow except into the basin where it slowly evaporates or percolates into the surrounding water table. The end result is a scenic lake surrounded by jagged peeks. Want to borrow this image for your website or blog? Please read Terms & Conditions Hickling House at Parque Terra Nostra In the 19th Century, Thomas Hickling, a prosperous American merchant from Boston built this mansion and laid out an arboretum and private walking gardens. Today this forms the basis of a park known as Parque Terra Nostra. The odd pea-soup greenish water in the foreground is a large swimming pool heated naturally by local geothermal activity. More Options Previous Travel Adventure: São Miguel - Vila Franca do Campo Next Travel Adventure: São Miguel - Furnas Fumaroles Azores Menu