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The Madeira Islands is a Portuguese autonomous archipelago in the north Atlantic Ocean.

The Madeira Islands, known originally to the Romans as the Purple Islands, were rediscovered (accidentally) by Portuguese sailors and settled by Portugal in 1418. It is currently an autonomous region. Positioned in the Atlantic Ocean, about 360 miles (580 km) directly west of Morocco, Africa, and 540 miles (870 km) southwest of Lisbon, Portugal. Madeira and Porto Santo are the only inhabited islands.

These islands are a popular year-round resort, famed worldwide for their Madeira wine, embroidery artisans, New Years' Eve celebrations with a spectacular fireworks show, a perfect climate, striking scenery and beautiful flowers.

Funchal

Madeira's almost five-century-old capital is said to have been named 'Funchal' because of the abundance of fennel (funcho) that was growing there.

Funchal is located in a unique area. The amphitheatre of Funchal city begins at the harbour and rises almost 1200 metres high on gentle slopes. This provides a natural shelter and was what once attracted the first settlers.

The harbour and climate combined with an excellent geographical position allowed Funchal to have a rapid population growth.

Today Funchal is a very modern city with over 104,000 inhabitants. This does however mean that traffic congestion in the centre can become sometimes quite stressful. The city can easily be explored by foot and no matter where your hotel is located (as long as it is in the Funchal tourist area) you will find no difficulty in walking into the city centre to delight at its sights and sounds.

Probably the most central point is the Sé Cathedral. Built between 1493 and 1514 by Gil Eanes it represents one of Madeira's numerous treasures.