Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History & Culture
It seems certain that the existence of Porto Santo and the rest of the archipelago was known
in the western world before the Portuguese discovered them at the beginning of the 15
th
Century. Maps from Florence indicate the location of the islands in their present loca-
tion and had even named Porto Santo 'Puerto Santo'. However, officially the island was
discovered after captains working on behalf of Henry the Navigator were blown into its
sheltered harbour by a storm, earning the name Porto Santo which translates as 'Holy Har-
bour'.
It didn't take long for settlers to arrive, with the first coming to the island only two years
later and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, a member of the crew who explored the archipelago, be-
coming the first Captain-donatorio of Porto Santo in 1445. It was from his ship that a rabbit
and her offspring had hitched a ride and multiplied to catastrophic effect, destroying the
native flora of the island. Christopher Columbus married Bartolomeu's daughter, Fillipa
Moniz Perestrelo, and lived on the island for a period.
