Candelária (Ponta Delgada)
| Candelária | |
| Civil Parish | |
 Candelária as seen from southern coast, São Miguel
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| Official name: Freguesia de Candelária | |
| Name origin: Portuguese for Candlemas | |
| Country |  Portugal |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Region |  Azores |
| Island | São Miguel |
| Municipality | Ponta Delgada |
| Localities | Albinos, Candelária, Canto Redondo, Chão da Lomba da Cruz, Lombinha, Paraíso, Pinheiro, Socorro, Vale |
| Center | Paraiso |
| - elevation | 175 m (574 ft) |
| - coordinates | 37°49′39″N 25°48′55″W / 37.82750°N 25.81528°WCoordinates: 37°49′39″N 25°48′55″W / 37.82750°N 25.81528°W |
| Highest point | Casal |
| - location | Sete Cidades Massif |
| - elevation | 656 m (2,152 ft) |
| - coordinates | 37°50′18″N 25°47′30″W / 37.83833°N 25.79167°W |
| Lowest point | Sea level |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Area | 8.63 km2 (3 sq mi) |
| - urban | .57 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Population | 1,079 (2011) |
| Density | 125/km2 (324/sq mi) |
| Settlement | fl. 1500 |
| - Parish | 28 March 1836 |
| LAU | Junta Freguesia |
| - location | Ramal da Igreja |
| President Junta | Roberto Carlos de Melo Amaral |
| President Assembleia | Celso Filipe Melo Arruda |
| Timezone | Atlantic/Azores (UTC-1) |
| - summer (DST) | Atlantic/Azores (UTC0) |
| Postal Zone | 9555-024 |
| Area code & prefix | (+351) 292 XX XX XX |
| Demonym | Candelarense |
| Patron saint | Nossa Senhora das Candeias |
| Statistics: Instituto Nacional de Estatística | |
| Geographic detail from CAOP (2010) produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP) | |
Candelária is a civil parish in the municipality of Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 1,079, in an area of 8.63 km². It is situated along the southwest flank of the Sete Cidades massif.
The history of the parish extends back to the 15th century, and was first chronicled in Saudades da Terra by Gaspar Frutuoso. It is unclear when the Hermitage of Nossa Senhora do Socorro was built, although a legend exists that the small chapel was constructed by a crew of a ship that escaped disaster in the high sea. Arriving in the secure waters of Candelária they fired a shot into the air towards shore, and promised to construct a hermitage to Virgin Mary where the bullet fell. Much later, August Loureiro served as the locale for several scenes in his regional novel A Bruxa.
The construction of the current church occurred before 1535 in a place that, legend suggests, was not the originally selected site. Most of the builders wanted to rebuild this church on a new site, but after arguments there was a decision to build on the site of the older hermitage. But, the materials continued to disappear from the build site, and miraculously re-appear on the site where it today sits. Rumour spread of a veiled woman, who transported the materials nightly after the workers abandoned the site for the evening; strangely, the image of the Virgin was covered in soot every morning, and the townsfolk assumed that it was through the intervention of the saint.
The letter dated 20 July 1568 by the diocese of Angra, raised the stipend of the local vicar from 10$000 to 20$000 cruzados. But, even this document did not refer to the local parochial church of Nossa Senhora das Candeis, but actually to the Church of Nossa Senhora da Purificação of Sete Cidades, suggesting that the parish was part of the parish of Sete Cidades. The first documented reference to Candeis came ion 26 March 1556.
By 1634, the local vicar received an annual stipend of 25$000 cruzados and another 3% from the contributions to the Chapel of the Infantes. This remained the common earning for the vicars to as late as 1730, by then vicar António de Sousa. Between 1632 and 1690, 138$500 cruzados were spent on the church, with several projects in stone alone completed in 1697 for 56$000 cruzados.
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