The village was named after the seals who were found there when Joao Goncalves Zarco discovered the island. Today, after so many years you may find seals near to the Desertas Islands.Camara de Lobos is one of the oldest villages Madeira has : in 1420 there was built the chapel "Nossa Senhora dos Pescadores", the holy madonna for the fishermen.Still today you may find the chapel near to the harbour.The fisherman from Camara de Lobos are specialized in "Espada - fishing", the black scabbard fish which is found in depth of 1000 meters and fished during the nights.Thats why you often see a lot of fishermen during the day playing cards or domino near to the harbour.
Place information Camara De Lobos
A beautiful fishing-village in the southeast of Madeira. Sir Winston Churchill loved the Bay of Camara de Lobos and choosed it to his favourite motif as a hobbypainter. Today a Restaurant named after him reminds of his visits to Madeira.When Joao Goncalves Zarco discovered the island and came to Câmara de Lobos, the bay was full of seals, hiding in the caves in the coast. In the harbour you find lots of colourful painted small boats, still today serving the fishermen of the village - as still a big part of the population lives from this business.
In the distance you see the Cabo Girao, highest cliff in Europe ( 580 m above sealevel)with impressive views over the bay of Funchal and Câmara de Lobos.
Nuns Valley or "Curral das Freiras" belongs to the region of Câmara de Lobos, it is an absolute must to see this valley from the viewpoint of Eira do Serrado ( 1047 m)surrounded by the highest peaks of Madeira. In former times the Nuns from the Santa Clara Convent hided themselves and the convent treasures in the volcano of Madeira from attacs through french pirates , today named after them.
