Discovery & Settlement

Madeira was uninhabited when the Portuguese sailors João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira officially claimed the island for Portugal in 1419 (Porto Santo) and 1420 (Madeira). However, the island was already known to Europeans — it is marked on a Genoese map from 1351 as "Isola della Legname" (Wood Island). The name Madeira also means "wood" in Portuguese — because the island was completely covered with dense laurel forest when the Portuguese arrived.

The Great Slash-and-Burn

To gain land for settlement and agriculture, the Portuguese colonists set the forests on fire — according to legend, the fire burned for seven years. Even if this number is exaggerated, the slash-and-burn destroyed much of the original forest and transformed the fertile volcanic soil into one of the most productive agricultural areas in the Atlantic. The remaining laurel forest in the north — today's UNESCO World Heritage Site Laurissilva — is what remains of this primeval vegetation.

Sugarcane and Prosperity

From the 15th century, Madeira became the largest sugarcane producer in the world. Sugar made the island fabulously wealthy — the churches of Funchal were adorned with gilded wood (financed by the sugar trade), and the Madeiran merchants were among the wealthiest in Europe. When sugar production moved to Brazil in the 16th century, Madeira switched to wine — and Madeira wine became one of the most sought-after and expensive wines in the world.

Strategic Importance

Madeira's location in the middle of the Atlantic made the island a strategic hub: A stopover on the sea route to Africa, India, and America, a supply station for the British Navy (the British had significant influence on Madeira for centuries), and an important base during World War II. The last Austrian Emperor Charles I lived here in exile and died in 1922 in Monte — his grave in the Church of Nossa Senhora do Monte remains a pilgrimage site to this day.