The cathedral is one of the few buildings in Madeira to have survived
virtually untouched since the early days of the island’s colonization. In
the 1490s, King Manuel I sent the architect Pêro Anes from the mainland to
work on the design of the colony’s cathedral. The Sé was finally completed
in 1514.

The highlights are the ceiling and the choir stalls, though neither is easy
to see in the dark interior. The ceiling of inlaid wood is best seen from
the south transept, where enough light filters in to illuminate the
intricate patterning. The choir stalls depict saints, prophets and apostles
in 16th-century costume. Aspects of Madeiran life feature in the decorative
details of the armrests and seats: one cherub carries a bunch of bananas,
another a goatskin full of wine.

Madeiran merchants, who grew rich on the profitable sugar trade, sought to
secure their salvation by commissioning paintings, statues, embroidered
vestments and illuminated hymn books for their local churches. Hundreds of
examples now fill this museum which is housed in the former bishops’ palace,
a building dating from 1600. There are some masterpieces in the collection,
including the late-Gothic processional cross donated by King Manuel I, and
religious paintings by major Flemish artists of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Some works include portraits of the dignitaries who commissioned them. Saints Philip and James  is a 16th-century painting showing
Simão Gonçalves de Câmara, Zarco’s grandson.

It is said that Zarco, the man who claimed Madeira for Portugal, built his
house where the Quinta das Cruzes now stands. The elegant 19th-century
mansion is now the Museum of Decorative Arts, furnished as a wealthy
merchant’s house with Indian silk wall hangings, Regency sideboards and
oriental carpets. In the basement is furniture made from mahogany packing
cases used in the 17th century for shipping sugar, and turned into chests
and cupboards when the sugar trade died.

The garden is dotted with ancient tombstones and architectural fragments.
These include two window frames from 1507 carved with rope motifs, acrobatic
figures and man-eating lions in a Madeiran version of the Manueline style of
architecture.

Opposite Quinta das Cruzes is the Convento de Santa Clara, founded in 1496 by
João Gonçalves de Câmara, one of Zarco’s grandsons. Zarco himself is buried
under the high altar, and Martim Mendes Vasconcelos, his son-in-law, has a
tomb at the rear of the church. Precious 17th-century azulejo  tiles cover the walls.

The Botanical Gardens display plants from all over the world. Desert cacti,
rainforest orchids and South African proteas grow here as well as Madeiran
dragon trees. There are contrasting sections: formal areas of bedding
plants, quiet carp ponds and wild wooded parts.

In the cobbled courtyards of the St Francis wine lodge, visitors are greeted
by the scents of ancient wood and Madeira. Some of the buildings in this
maze of coopers’ yards, wine vaults and sampling rooms go back to the 17th
century when the site was part of Funchal’s Franciscan friary. It is
possible to sample wines made on the premises more than 150 years ago as
well as more recent (and cheaper) vintages. Included in the guided tour is a
visit to the warming rooms where Madeira is “cooked” by hot water pipes.

The Mercado dos Lavradores is where flower growers, basket weavers, farmers
and fishermen from all over Madeira bring their products to market. The
covered market building, situated on three floors around an open courtyard,
is full of the colour and bustle of island life. Stallholders offer slices
of mango or custard fruit to prove that theirs are the sweetest and best. In
the basement, marble tables are draped with great slabs of tuna and
black-skinned scabbard fish with huge eyes and razor-sharp teeth.

On Fridays the market spills out into the back streets of the Zona Velha (Old
Town), the former fishermen’s quarter and now an area of small shops and
lively cafés. The simple, single-storey dwellings at the pedestrianized
eastern end of Rua Dom Carlos I are said to date from the 15th century. The
little Corpo Santo chapel was built by 16th-century fishermen in honour of
their patron, St Peter, and is said to be the oldest such building in
Funchal.

Along the seafront is the newly restored Fortaleza de São Tiago, built in
1614, with additions dating from 1767. The fortress, with its maze of
passages and staircases, commands views over Funchal and houses a Museum of
Contemporary Art and a restaurant.