Sete Cidades (Ponta Delgada)
| Sete Cidades | |
| Civil Parish | |
 The built-up settlement of Sete Cidades on the western margin of the Blue Lake
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| Official name: Freguesia das Sete Cidades | |
| Name origin: Portuguese for Seven Cities | |
| Country |  Portugal |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Region |  Azores |
| Island | São Miguel |
| Municipality | Ponta Delgada |
| Localities | Cerrado da Ladeira, Cerrado das Freiras, Sete Cidades |
| Center | Sete Cidades |
| - elevation | 264 m (866 ft) |
| - coordinates | 37°51′42″N 25°47′38″W / 37.86167°N 25.79389°WCoordinates: 37°51′42″N 25°47′38″W / 37.86167°N 25.79389°W |
| Highest point | Sombreiros |
| - location | Sete Cidades Massif |
| - elevation | 795 m (2,608 ft) |
| - coordinates | 37°50′28″N 25°45′52″W / 37.84111°N 25.76444°W |
| Lowest point | Lagoa Azul |
| - elevation | 261 m (856 ft) |
| Area | 19.19 km2 (7 sq mi) |
| - water | 4.66 km2 (2 sq mi) |
| - urban | .47 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Population | 793 (2011) |
| Density | 41/km2 (106/sq mi) |
| LAU | Junta Freguesia |
| - location | Caminho das Ruas |
| President Junta | Manuel Arsénio Roque |
| Timezone | Azores (UTC-1) |
| - summer (DST) | Azores (UTC0) |
| Postal Zone | 9555-199 |
| Area Code & Prefix | (+351) 292 XXX-XXXX |
| Patron Saint | São Nicolau |
Sete Cidades is a civil parish in the center of the municipality of Ponta Delgada, that is likewise located in the center of a massive volcanic crater three miles across, also referred to as Sete Cidades. The population in 2011 was 793, in an area of 19.19 km². It is one of the smallest parishes of Ponta Delgada by population, although the largest in area.
The region received its geographic nomenclature from the Latin Insula Septem Civitatum, which means Island of the Seven Tribes or Island of the Seven Peoples (Portuguese: Ilha das Sete Tribos or Ilha dos Sete Povos), but became a historical reference as the Island of the Seven Cities. This comes from classical Latin, probably incorporated into the older traditions of Mediterranean peoples, through the navigators of European antiquity, or the Phoenicians. In Latin, civitas does not signify city, but rather a collectivity of citizens of a determined community.
The first Iberian document to refer to Sete Cidades was a Latin chronicle from the city of Porto-Cale (the modern city of Oporto), written in 750 A.D. by a Christian cleric. During this era, the Iberian Kingdom of the Visigoths was in the process of collapse, under pressure from Muslim invasions (which began in 711 A.D.). The Visigoth archbishop fled to Porto-Cale, fearing the assault of the Muslim forces, where he deliberated an escape to the lands in the Western Sea, which sailors insisted existed. In 734, the archbishop, accompanied by six other bishops, their prelates and approximately 5000 faithful, sailed away in a fleet of twenty ships. The chronicle indicated that the fleet arrived at their destination, burned their ships and established seven Christian communities under the reign of the seven religious leaders. Although many prepared to follow, in truth, the archbishop (if he existed) was never heard from again, nor was the route to the mythical lands established.
Although there are no proofs that the island of Seven Cities actually existed, the belief of their existence, some tentative expeditions and brief unconfirmed visual sightings of Atlantic islands, fostered legends during the European Middle Ages. Consequently many of the Medieval maps and charts that showed the Ocean Sea (the Atlantic Ocean) identified an island (or islands) represented in different positions or forms. The island of Brasil and/or Antillia (from the Brendan context) and the island of Sete Cidades, were usual geographic references that persisted in the proto-geography of the Atlantic.
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