Santa Catarina Park, Funchal Madeira

Is it Sunday… do you have some time to relax… or is it just a beautiful day outside? Read a book, take a stroll or simply sit under a tree and listen to the birds and the water of the fountain in the Parque de Santa Catarina. This park is the perfect place to relax and enjoy all these leisure activities.

With a total area of 36.000 square meters and located between Avenida do Infante and Avenida Sá Carneiro, in the western part of Funchal, the Parque de Santa Catarina offers a lovely view over the bay of Funchal, green spaces, a cafe, several paths provided with benches and flanked by many species of the world’s flora and a lovely lake with a small island where swans and ducks thrive.

An extensive lawn surrounded by well-kept flowerbeds marks the centre of this garden and invites for a rest or a ball game. Of special interest for visitors with children is a playground offering all sorts of fun for the youngest. Nearby you'll find two old machines once used to squash grapes and to steamroll the road.

Among the many bits and pieces that you can see in this park, we should also mention the aviaries, the sculptures dedicated to several personalities and the Santa Catarina Chapel, which is unfortunately closed to public, and which was ordered tobe built by the wife of João Gonçalves Zarco, the first captain of the island in honor of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in 1425.