São Jorge is a long, thin mountainous island that stretches for 56 km (35 miles)
but is only 8 km (5 miles) wide. On its north coast, sheer cliffs drop 480 m
(1,575 ft) to the sea. Over the centuries these cliffs have collapsed in places,
creating tongues of land known as fajãs . It was on these
coastal promontories that the island’s Flemish colonists first settled in the
mid-15th century.

Today many islanders on São Jorge are engaged in the production of a cured
cheese, Queijo de São Jorge , exported to mainland Europe. The
pace of life is leisurely and most visitors come to enjoy the walking along the
paths that climb between the fajãs . The most popular route is
in the northeast of the island from Serra do Topo 10 km (6 miles) down to Fajã
dos Cubres.

Most of the settlements lie along the gentler south coast, including the capital,
Velas , and Calheta , where the small Museu de São Jorge  displays objects of local history such as
the ornate breads baked for the Holy Spirit festival, a honey press,
agricultural utensils and religious sculptures. West of Calheta, in the pretty
village of Manadas , the 18th-century church of Santa Bárbara  has an atmospheric carved and painted interior. In Urzelina , 2 km (1 mile) further west, the tower of a church
buried by lava in 1808 protrudes defiantly from the ground. In the west of the
island there is a pleasant forested picnic area at Sete
Fontes , and on a clear day the nearby summit of Pico da
Velha  offers superb views of the central Azorean islands.