Água Retorta
| Água Retorta | |
| Civil Parish | |
 A partial panorama of Água Retorta, looking towards the Church of Nossa Senhora da Penha da França
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| Official name: Freguesia da Água Retorta | |
| Name origin: Portuguese for turning water | |
| Country |  Portugal |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Region |  Azores |
| Island | São Miguel |
| Municipality | Povoação |
| Localities | Água Retorta, Fajã do Calhau, Lomba das Fagundas |
| Center | Água Retorta |
| - elevation | 290 m (951 ft) |
| - coordinates | 37°45′44″N 25°9′29″W / 37.76222°N 25.15806°WCoordinates: 37°45′44″N 25°9′29″W / 37.76222°N 25.15806°W |
| Highest point | Tronqueira |
| - elevation | 898 m (2,946 ft) |
| - coordinates | 37°47′9″N 25°10′47″W / 37.78583°N 25.17972°W |
| Lowest point | Sea Level |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Area | 12.55 km2 (5 sq mi) |
| - urban | .20 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Population | 489 (2011) |
| Density | 39/km2 (101/sq mi) |
| Settlement | 15th century |
| - Parish | 17th century |
| - Civil Parish | 3 July 1839 |
| LAU | Junta Freguesia |
| - location | Rua Direita |
| President Junta | Sandra Cabral Agostinho Carreiro (PS) |
| President Assembleia | Marisa Isabel Cabral Medeiros (PS) |
| Timezone | Azores (UTC-1) |
| - summer (DST) | Azores (UTC0) |
| Postal Zone | 9650-018 |
| Area Code & Prefix | (+351) 292 XXX-XXXX |
| Patron Saint | Nossa Senhora da Penha de França |
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| Website: http://freguesiaaguaretorta.com/ | |
Água Retorta is a civil parish in the municipality of Povoação, on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 489, in an area of 12.55 km². Situated along the southeast coast, it is the smallest and most eastern parish in the municipality.
The early settlement of Água Retorta, which had its origin with the settlement of Faial da Terra, occurred with the reestablishment of colonists from old Povoação. Água Retorta became important due to the abundance of farms that existed in this territory. The place name, as Gaspar Frutuoso wrote, was inspired by a ravine "that twisted and turned", that by the 16th century developed into a land of many farms. His description in Saudades da Terra: From here progresses the lands of Nordeste, all in land of high cliffs, where two lengths below is the beach, called Água Retorta, because the [the water] twists and turns. Paraphrasing Gaspar Frutuoso, Urbano de Mendonça Dias affirmed that the name was derived from the twists the ravine made, as it descended to rocks in the sea.
Friar Agostinho Montalverne identified the parish as falling within the jurisdiction of the local authority of Faial da Terra, and clergy of the ecumenical parish of Nossa Senhora da Graça. At that time, its vicar indicated the existence of 103 homes in the village, a population of 74, as well as a small hermitage dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Penha de França. This hermitage was founded by Pedro Barbosa da Silva, and constructed in 1871. In addition to this chapel, there existed another temple to the invocation of Nossa Senhora das Mercês, situated in Fajã do Calhau, on land that pertained to D. Ermelinda Pacheco Gago da Câmara, but which was destroyed during a storm in 1875.
Even by the 17th century, the citizenry of Água Retorta were ambitious to become an independent ecclesiastical parish, a fact that occurred by the end of that decade.
There is another location, Labaçal, important in the history of Água Retorta. It is situated within the vicinity of the parish, an area of approximately 500 alqueires of thicket, 400 metres (1,300 ft) above sea level.
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Wikipedia