Funchal

Funchal stands on the southern coast of Madeira, where a bay gives access to the cultivated slopes of the island. Portuguese settlement began in the 1420s under João Gonçalves Zarco, who made his home here. The growth of sugar cultivation brought merchants and wealth to the town. Enslaved people, including Africans and Canary Islanders, labored in the island economy. By the late fifteenth century Funchal had become the center of a flourishing Atlantic sugar trade.

The prosperity of the town was reflected in new institutions and buildings. Manuel I raised Funchal to city status in 1508, and in 1514 its principal church became the cathedral of a new diocese. Sugar exports passed through the city’s customs house, while merchants connected Madeira with European markets. Competition from other Atlantic producers later weakened the sugar trade, and wine grew in importance.