The Funchal Cathedral (Sé), from the 15th century, one of the oldest and best-preserved Manueline churches in the country
The Forte de São Tiago, in the Zona Velha, with contemporary art exhibitions and views over the Atlantic
The historic centre of Funchal (Zona Velha), with cobbled streets and colourful houses that preserve the memory of the 16th-century city
The Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Monte and the Monte Palace Madeira, set among tropical gardens and viewpoints overlooking the bay
about the place
Funchal spreads out in an amphitheatre above the southern bay of the island of Madeira, with the ocean ahead and the mountains closing the horizon. The name comes from 'funcho', the aromatic herb that covered the land when the first settlers arrived. The town received its first royal charter between 1452 and 1454, and King Manuel I elevated it to city status on 21 August 1508 by royal decree — an early distinction for a settlement that had already accumulated Atlantic wealth and cosmopolitanism.
