Port of Angra by Heroísmo - Portugal

The port is located on Terceira island in the Acores archipelago and is a European bridge to "New World" for more than 3 centuries. Right from the 15th century it was the place to stop for the Portuguese fleet on the way back to Europe. This location was cleverly chosen by the first navigators: it was covered by a series of hills and wind directions.

The port has 2 natural tanks called Bunting and Anchor (Angra in Portuguese) used as the name of this settlement. As soon as it was created, an inviolable defense system was built with the great São Sebastiao and São Filipe fortresses (today São João Baptista).

At the same time, the city was built according to a unique plan: Planning the chessboard, the characteristics of new cities have been changed to take into account the main wind direction. Thus Angra due to Heroísmo is the only example of adapting an urban model to specific climatic conditions.

Many Baroque-style buildings were built in Angra after it became the capital of the Acores General Church in 1534: the cathedral of Santissimo Salvador, the churches of Misericordia and Sante Espérito, Franciscan monasteries and Jesuitt lines. In 1980, an earthquake damaged many of the city's ancient buildings.In 1983, the city's historic district was listed on the World Heritage List. Since then, Unesco has sent many expert teams to help authorities plan to preserve this area in the general urban development program.