São Vicente is a village at sea level on the North of Madeira, just on the mouth of a valley. Just beyond the village, at the entrance of the valley, is a dark, cross-crowned rock, where the interior has been hollowed into a curious shrine dedicated to the saint patron of the valey. A door, facing the landward side opens into the chapel. This little Ermida was constructed in 1692 and on St. John's Day a mass is celebrated within its walls.

Photo by Catarina Fagundes