600 Years of Discovery of Porto Santa, Madeira

Perforation type: 12x12 ¼

Subject:

91 cents. In the stamp design uses a reproduction of the lithograph "The Town of Porto Santo", 1827, by James Bulwer and William Westall. Part of the town is the windmill*.

In the foreground of the stamp there is a leaf and a stalk of sugar cane.

Additional:

The Discovery of Porto Santo, in 1418, and of Madeira, in 1419, constituted the first act that profoundly marked the epic of Portuguese Maritime Expansion, as these islands, thereafter, constituted an Atlantic base, which allowed Portugal to attain the position it occupies in World History, for, in the fitting words of Portugal's greatest poet, having given new worlds to the World.

Such a significant historical event, which now happened 600 years ago, is more than a good enough reason to celebrate this secular collective journey, which honours the memory of a people who, within and outside of the archipelago, have succeeded in maintaining the most outstanding features of an Atlantic lusitanity', that lends it its own cultural identity. Because Porto Santo was, of the discoveries, the first island, it will be the specific focus of this year's celebrations, which will include several popular and cultural initiatives, ranging from publications and exhibitions to conferences, shows and many other events in the public sphere in which the population and the school community will participate.

 

* The original work used on the stamp is stored in the Casa Museu Frederico de Freitas - museum, location in Funchal, Madeira.