Candidatura Reserva da Biosfera - Santana Madeira Biosfera

“Casas de pedra aparelhada” Stone masonry houses
These houses are built on fitted basaltic masonry stone, usually two story with roof
covering in Marseille tile. Access between the floors was made by stone steps, usually
located on the outside, in one of the side walls. Unlike yarn, half-yarn and round
thatched houses, the stone masonry houses include in the same building housing,
kitchen and toilets. Typically, in the ground floor was located the kitchen, lounge,
restrooms and a small warehouse, where the residents kept the barrels of wine, pork and
tuna in brine and the products collected from agricultural labors as potatoes, beans and
fava droughts and onion, as well as seeds for the next sowing. Rooms were located
upstairs. Subsequently, many of these homes, walls and exterior stairs were cemented
and painted with lime, retaining the other original features.
“Moinhos de água” Watermills
Figure 39. Traditional stone masonry house in Arco de São Jorge parish
The great importance that cereals, especially wheat and rye, detained for the
economy of Madeira at the beginning of the colonization, that were even exported,
continued even after the rise of sugar, were mainly cultivated in the highlands and in
municipalities of north of the island. Its importance was not limited to obtaining the grain
68 Application of Santana, Madeira to Biosphere Reserve – UNESCO - MAB