Funchal

Funchal, over 500 years of History!

Funchal is the capital of the Madeira Archipelago and was the first place the Portuguese settled overseas in the 15th century, during the Age of the Maritime Expansion.
Thanks to its strategic location, Funchal quickly became an important Atlantic harbour, where ships regularly stopped to rest and restock supplies. It was here that large-scale sugar production began, supplying much of Europe throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. The prosperity of the sugar trade brought great wealth to the island and attracted merchants and settlers from across Europe.
In 1478, Christopher Columbus visited Madeira on a sugar trading trip and later returned to live in the archipelago after marrying a local noblewoman.
When the sugar trade declined, the wine industry rose to prominence. Fortified Madeira Wine became famous worldwide and was even praised by Thomas Jefferson, who called it “the wine of every civilized man.”
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