Lajes das Flores (parish)
| Lajes | ||
| Civil Parish | ||
 The historical miradouro in the civil parish of Lajes, showing the emplacements used to protect the village from pirates
|
||
|
||
| Official name: Freguesia de Lajes das Flores | ||
| Name origin: Portuguese for slabs | ||
| Country |  Portugal |
|
|---|---|---|
| Autonomous Region |  Azores |
|
| Island | Flores | |
| Municipality | Lajes das Flores | |
| Localities | Achada, Forcas, Morros, Presépio | |
| Center | Lajes das Flores | |
| - elevation | 67 m (220 ft) | |
| - coordinates | 39°22′41″N 31°10′27″W / 39.37806°N 31.17417°WCoordinates: 39°22′41″N 31°10′27″W / 39.37806°N 31.17417°W | |
| Highest point | Marcela | |
| - elevation | 773 m (2,536 ft) | |
| - coordinates | 39°25′11″N 31°12′48″W / 39.41972°N 31.21333°W | |
| Lowest point | Sea level | |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean | |
| - elevation | 0 m (0 ft) | |
| Area | 18.79 km2 (7 sq mi) | |
| - water | .454 km2 (0 sq mi) | |
| - urban | .533 km2 (0 sq mi) | |
| Population | 627 (2011) | |
| Density | 33/km2 (85/sq mi) | |
| Settlement | fl.1510 | |
| - Town/Vila | c.1515 | |
| LAU | Junta Freguesia | |
| - location | Avenida Peixoto Pimental | |
| President Junta | Luís Manuel Fernande Caramelo (PS) | |
| President Assembleia | Gilda de Freitas Tavares (PS) | |
| Timezone | Azores (UTC-1) | |
| - summer (DST) | Azores (UTC0) | |
| Postal Zone | 9960-431 | |
| Area Code & Prefix | (+351) 292 XXX-XXXX | |
| Demonym | Lajense | |
| Patron Saint | Nossa Senhora do Rosário | |
  Location of the civil parish seat of Lajes in the municipality of Lajes das Flores
|
||
| Geographic detail from CAOP (2010) produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP) | ||
Lajes das Flores is an Azorean civil parish, and municipal seat of the municipality of Lajes das Flores. The population in 2011 was 627, in an area of 18.79 km².
The island and Corvo was discovered in 1452 (by Diogo de Teive and João de Teive, his son), donated on 20 January 1453 to D. Afonso of Bragança, its captainy was eventually ceded by João Teive to Fernão Teles de Mensese on 20 January 1475. On 1 March 1504, the captaincy was donated to João da Fonesca by D. Manuel I. The village was founded in a sheltered bay, facilitating the easy disembarkation of goods and provisions, protected from westerly winds. The first documented settlement, by the Flem Willem van der Haegen, occurred in the zone of Ribeira da Cruz (north of the parish) in the 16th century.
By 1510, the area of Lajes consisted of a significant population; it had benefited from its natural port and the settlement was elevated to the status of vila by the Portuguese government (responsible for administering the south and western portions of the island) by 1515 (making it the oldest settlement in the Western Group with this status). Initially, the settlement included Ribeira da Silva (in the area of Lomba), Fajã Grande, as well as the settlements of Lajedo, Fajãzinha, Caldeira, Mosteiro, Fajã Grande and Fazenda. Settlements in the western coast, with the exception of Lajedo, were de-annexed to form the parish of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios das Fajãs (independent as of 1676, with its seat in Fajãzinha).
The primitive church was constructed in the present location of the cemetery, but was burned-down by English privateers on July 25, 1587, when five English ships offloaded troops and sacked the village, and caused the residents to flee into the hills. Two fortes were constructed to guard the coastal frontier and villages: the Fort of Santo António, which defended the town from two American privateers in 1770 and the Forte do Espírito Santo. By 1868 these garrisons were demolished, but the name Santo António in the village remains, designating the area along the coast in front of the Church, the former location of the fort and chapel of the same name.
The historian Father António Cordeiro, in his work História Insulana described the village:
The Florense, José António Camões, in his Roteiro Exacto da Costa da Ilha, writing in the first decade of the 19th century, affirmed:
...
Wikipedia