Although it is a small island in the middle of the Atlantic, the history of Faial is interlinked with some of the world’s greatest historic events. With one of the safest and most important ports in the Azores, Faial was involved in Portugal’s maritime expansion, the maritime trade with Asia, Africa, and the Americas, American long-distance whaling, submarine telegraph communications, and aviation.

This connection with the rest of the world began as soon as the island was settled in 1468 under the provincial commander Josse Van Huertere, originally from Flanders. These first settlements, in the areas of Porto Pim and Conceição, gave birth to the town of Horta, which was founded around 1500. Today, various surnames derived from the original Flemish settlers still survive, such as Dutra (a Portuguese adaptation of van der Hurtere), Terra (van Aaard or Aertrycke) or Brum (van der Bruyn).

The 17th century, a time of economic growth, was marked by the architectural development of the city. Numerous convents and churches, manor houses, middle-class houses, and warehouses sprang up. Faial became a port of call for ships sailing from the West Indies to England and from Brazil and the East to Portugal. This intense movement of merchant ships led many foreign traders and consular representatives to settle on the island.

The 18th century brought new commercial opportunities that further increased the importance of the Port of Horta: the exporting of wine (essentially produced in Pico) to Central and North America and the emergence and growth of the whaling industry. Whaling had a major cultural and economic impact on the islands. Its main objective was the extraction of whale oil, which had numerous applications but was mostly used in public lighting in the United States and in Europe.

In 1893, the first submarine communications cable was laid between Horta and Carcavelos on Portugal’s mainland. Later, other cables were laid that connected the city to Africa, America, England, France, Germany, Spain, Cape Verde, and Lisbon.

These undertakings, carried out by telecommunication companies from several countries (the most important of which were England, the United States, and Germany), placed the city of Horta at the center of the international telecommunications map.

This period lasted until the end of the 1960s and was marked by a great process of urban, cultural, and sporting development primarily fed by the permanent contact with foreign communities. The construction of buildings increased, roads were built to connect the countryside and the city, a public lighting network appeared, and the paving of the main streets and the construction of sidewalks was promoted. Musical groups, musical bands, and philharmonic groups were also formed and sports clubs were established (such as Fayal Sport, one of the oldest in the country), for the practice of tennis, soccer, water polo, baseball, and croquet.

During the 20 th century, with the modernization of ships and the end of whaling, the Port of Horta waned in commercial importance, but it has always found new opportunities to take advantage of, such as the presence of Dutch tugboats, the growth in aviation, and, more recently, the rise of recreational boating and yachting.

In 1971, Horta Airport was inaugurated, which leveraged a new level of development. In 1974, with the April revolution, there was the transition to democracy. In 1976, the Azores achieved the status of Autonomous Region and gained its own government, with sovereign functions in several areas.