2005 © Oficina Virtual de Turismo
With an amazing façade, the Solar da Madre de Deus was built during the 17th century, following the order of Vital de Bettencourt e Vasconcelos, a nobleman belonging to the Third Order. The place in which it is now located used to form part of the city outskirts when the Solar was being built, which is the reason why it adjusts to the usual, town-planning logic for Portuguese port cities at that time.
Next to the Solar and forming part of it, we find the hermitage of Madre de Deus, which was built following the orders of the first owner of the Solar. It influenced the local toponymy, it is said that the neighbouring street was named after it as Rua da Madre de Deus. At present, the Solar is the residence of the Minister of the Republic in the Autonomous Region of Azores. That is the reason why its interior is magnificently decorated.
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