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Peter's Wine & Beer
1.4 mi from the city centre · Caniço · Portugal
Caniço, named after the reeds
Caniço is known as one of the first places on Madeira to be settled, named after the reeds that covered it when the island was discovered. Read on for the island's first mill, a parish split between two captaincies, the Christ the King statue and two forts built against pirates.
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Caniço, a city in the municipality of Santa Cruz on Madeira, takes its name from the reed known as caniço or carriço (Phragmites communis) that covered the area when the island was discovered. According to the town council, it was one of the first places on Madeira to be settled, and it straddled the two original captaincies: the land on the right bank of the Caniço stream belonged to the captaincy of Funchal and the land on the left bank to that of Machico, with the boundary marker at Ponta da Oliveira.
The first settlers grew cereals here, and Madeira's first mill was built in Caniço, at the site still known as Azenha. The parish was founded in 1438 or 1440, one of the oldest on the island, and for a long time it had two chapels as its seat, one on each bank: Espírito Santo on the right and Santo Antão on the left. When both fell into ruin, a single new church was built, and the present parish church opened in 1783. In 1515, with the founding of the municipality of Santa Cruz by charter of Manuel I, Caniço came under its jurisdiction.
On the Ponta do Garajau stands the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, better known as Cristo Rei, inaugurated on 30 October 1927 in fulfilment of a vow by Aires de Ornelas, son of the last morgado of Caniço. The parish's heritage also includes the early 17th-century Forte da Atalaia de São Sebastião and the 18th-century Forte dos Reis Magos, built to defend the island from pirates and privateers.
The council notes that Caniço's tourist vocation began in the 1970s; it was raised to town status in 2000 and to city status in 2005.
Craft beer in Caniço is a rare find on this stretch of Madeira's south coast. Keep an eye out for something brewed on the island between a visit to Cristo Rei and the old forts.
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Bars in Caniço
Frequently asked questions
The name comes from the reed known as caniço or carriço (Phragmites communis), which covered the area when Madeira was discovered. According to the town council, it was one of the first places on the island to be settled, and its first settlers grew cereals and built Madeira's first mill, at a site still known as Azenha.
It straddled Madeira's two original captaincies. Land on the right bank of the local stream belonged to the captaincy of Funchal and land on the left bank to that of Machico, with the boundary marker at Ponta da Oliveira. For a long time the parish even had two chapels as its seat, one on each bank.
It is a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, better known as Cristo Rei, standing on the Ponta do Garajau headland. It was inaugurated on 30 October 1927 in fulfilment of a vow by Aires de Ornelas, son of the last morgado, or entailed landowner, of the parish. The council notes that tourism here began in the 1970s.
Besides the parish church, which opened in 1783 after the two older chapels fell into ruin, the parish has two forts built to defend the island from pirates and privateers: one from the early 17th century and another from the 18th century. Both form part of the heritage listed for the parish.