Caveira
| Caveira | |
| Civil Parish | |
| Official name: Freguesia da Caveira | |
| Name origin: Portuguese for skull | |
| Country |  Portugal |
|---|---|
| Region |  Azores |
| Island | Flores |
| Municipality | Santa Cruz das Flores |
| Localities | Espigão |
| Center | Espigão |
| - elevation | 289 m (948 ft) |
| - coordinates | 39°25′54″N 31°9′6″W / 39.43167°N 31.15167°WCoordinates: 39°25′54″N 31°9′6″W / 39.43167°N 31.15167°W |
| Highest point | Mato da Caveira |
| - elevation | 553 m (1,814 ft) |
| - coordinates | 39°25′45″N 31°10′39″W / 39.42917°N 31.17750°W |
| Lowest point | Sea level |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean |
| - elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Area | 3.28 km2 (1 sq mi) |
| - urban | .07 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Population | 77 (2011) |
| Density | 23/km2 (60/sq mi) |
| Settlement | c.1478 |
| - Parish | c.1823 |
| - Civil Parish | c.1836 |
| LAU | Junta Freguesia |
| - location | Estrada Regional E.R.1-1ª |
| - coordinates | 39°25′51″N 31°8′56″W / 39.43083°N 31.14889°W |
| President Junta | Mauricio Andrade Pedro (PS) |
| Timezone | Azores (UTC-1) |
| - summer (DST) | Azores (UTC0) |
| Postal Zone | 9970-031 |
| Area Code & Prefix | (+351) 292 XXX-XXXX |
| Demonym | Caveirense |
| Patron Saint | Nossa Senhora do Livramento |
  Location of the civil parish seat of Caveira in the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores
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| Geographic detail from CAOP (2010) produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP) | |
Caveira is the smallest civil parish by area on the island of Flores, located within the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores, in the Azorean archipelago. The population in 2011 was 77, in an area of 3.28 km². It is located 5 kilometers south of Santa Cruz das Flores, the municipal capital, in an area primarily concentrating on agriculture.
The first colonists were a group of Flemish settlers captained by Willem van der Haegen, who selected the valley of Ribeira da Cruz for his settlement. They arrived at the end 15th century with the hope of finding precious metals (tin and silver, specifically), in the belief that Flores was part of the mythical Ihas Cassitérides (English: Islands of Silver and Tin). They made their homes in the small grottoes along the river-valley, but when they realized that there were no deposits, they abandoned their settlement and moved to the area of Topo, on the island of São Jorge. The area remained uninhabited for many decades until the 16th century, as Father Gaspar Frutuoso noted is his historical tome Saudades da Terra and where he mentioned the community but omitted whether it was populated. The first reference to a populated settlement in Caveira appeared in the works of António Cordeiro, published in 1717, citing the existence of a small place along the coast.
From here Caveira evolved, becoming a primitive community dependent on the much larger administrative and religious village of Santa Cruz (whose parish included Caveira). Owing to the distance and difficulty in traveling from the valley of Ribeira da Cruz, in 1757, the parish vicar (Father Agostinho Pereira de Lacerda) requested that the bishop of Angra (at that time Brother Valério do Sacramento) anex Caveira to the neighboring parish of São Caetano da Lomba (even though it was part of the neighboring municipality). The situation did not improve communication or the betterment of the faith community connected to Lomba, and with the assistance of a local property-holder (José António de Sousa Bettencourt of Graciosa), a small chapel was constructed on the current site of the local cemetery. The chapel to the invocation of Benditas Almas (Blessed Souls), was 12 metres in length and 4.2 meters in width. Once completed, the parish priest José Joaquim de Almeida quickly petitioned that Caveira should be elevated to parish, going as far as a petition directly to King John VI of Portugal (dated December 19, 1823). The church remained the property of João António Bettencourt (a descendant) who maintained the building in a reasonable condition, but its condition degraded considerably. In a report by the Civil Governor of the District of Horta (in 1867), António José Vieira Santa Rita reported the lamentable condition of the sanctuary. The cornerstone of the new church was laid on June 13, 1870, but its completion was slow and difficult. Although supported by emigres to the United States and notable local residents, such as the Visconde da Silva Figueira, the main chapel wasn't completed until September 11, 1880. From this time the new church was named for Nossa Senhora do Livramento, although the Church in Angra refused to accept the change.
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