Purpose-built for traversing the oceans, the wide-hulled caravel (caravela in Portuguese) was arguably Portugal’s most significant contribution to maritime history and an integral part of Prince Henry the Navigator’s ambitious plan for extensive sea exploration in the 15th century.
Roughly rectangular in shape, Santa Maria Island is both the most easterly and southerly of the remote Azores archipelago, and the first of nine to have been discovered by Portuguese navigators in the 15th century.
Dotted with flowers, waterfalls and restored scarlet-topped windmills, the enchanting pear-shaped island of Graciosa is a major attraction for nature lovers visiting the Azores.
Ocean hideaways don’t get much more idyllic than Porto Santo, a pretty volcanic island off the Moroccan coast near Madeira.