During the pandemic, I started researching my origins. Having acquired some knowledge about my family history, I decided to visit the places where my ancestors came from. This is the third leg of what now I call the “Route of the Ancestors”. The Route has 4 stops, each corresponding to a place where the families of my paternal and maternal grandparents came from.
I started by my maternal side. My first stop on this journey was the town of Tiradentes (Minas Gerais, Brazil) where my maternal grandmother’s father, Lindolpho de Assis, was born in 1860 (you can find images of Tiradentes in this website, in the gallery entitled “Minas”). I believe his family was originally from Portugal, but I haven’t found any record (yet) that indicates where they came from. My last and fourth stop will be in Brazil as well, in the town of Corrego da Prata (Rio de Janeiro), where Albertina Reis, my maternal grandmother’s mother, was born. One of these days…
Before returning to Brazil, however, I wanted to visit other places, further away both in distance and in time. The second stop on my Route was Seville (Andalucia, Spain). Seville was the birthplace of a very, very distant relative of my paternal grandmother. Bartolomeu Bueno came to Brazil in 1581 on board of a Spanish armada. He was a carpenter.
Most of my ancestors came from Portugal, from different places, in different times. The family of my paternal grandmother was from the Azores Islands. Antonio de Souza Breves and Maria de Jesus Fernandes came to Brazil in 1752. He was from the Island of São Jorge; she was from the Island of Terceira. The Azores, therefore, was a mandatory stop.
In São Jorge, I went to Ribeira Seca, the village where Antonio was born. I also visited the church of São Tiago, where I believe his mother, Maria de Souza, was baptized. Among the islands I visited, São Jorge is my favorite. It is gorgeous, rustic and untamed, not yet taken over by hordes of tourists, so one can get a real feeling for the place.
Naturally, I also went to Terceira. It felt somehow more cosmopolitan and developed than the other islands, particularly its main city, Ponta Delgada. But the island is not without natural charms: the unforgettable natural pools of Biscoitos being one of them. In Terceira, I went to the church where Antonio and Maria got married before going to Brazil. Unfortunately, an earthquake destroyed the original church, and the church of Santa Luzia had to be rebuilt completely. Very little of its original self remains…
Once in the Azores, island hopping is a must. I started on the main island, São Miguel, also known as the green island. No wonder: very green indeed! Besides all the green, São Miguel has chin dropping vistas, volcanic lakes, thermal pools, pineapple and tea plantations, and zillions of cows! The most famous cheese from the archipelago is from São Jorge though…
From São Miguel, I flew to Faial and already in the air, I was welcomed by the imposing figure of Mount Pico, the tallest mountain in Portugal at 2,351 meters. Mount Pico would be visible from almost everywhere in Faial and São Jorge, and it soon became my favorite Azorean view. Surrounded by clouds that kept moving around it in a gracious dance, Mount Pico was a sight that I could not get tired of. Simply hypnotic…
Faial was the most layback of the islands I visited; it was relaxing there. Walking around the neighborhood of Praia do Porto Pim by sunset felt like a balm: pure calm and peace. Faial, however, has a tragic history. In 1957 the island was devastated by a volcanic eruption (Capelinhos volcano) that lasted for months and left the island covered in ashes, if not with a somewhat larger territory, in a not-so-distant demonstration of how volcanic islands are formed.
From the Azores, I headed to continental Portugal, where many stops in my route waited for me. I first stopped in Lisbon. My great grandmother, Maria Madalena d’Oliveira was born and baptized there (Santa Catarina church), but regretfully I didn’t have time to visit that church. I spent most of my short time in Lisbon buried in the National Library, researching the personal archives of my great grandfather, João José de Mendonça Cortez. He was not from Lisbon, but from the charming town of Olhão in the Algarve. He did live in Lisbon for many years; he also lived in Coimbra.
Lisbon was thus a quick stopover on my way to Porto, where I believed Maria Madalena’s father, João Gomes d’Oliveira e Souza, was buried. One source indicated he was buried in the historical cemetery of Our Lady of Lapa (by the same church where the heart of D. Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal now rests). I even had the number of his grave and all. Alas, that information did not match anything I saw in the cemetery. I walked its several pathways back and forth many times but could not find it. This small frustration did not spoil my stay in Porto. On the contrary, I loved the city! It is monumentally beautiful. All these churches covered in exquisite azulejos; its hilly streets and… the light! That beautiful light!
My next stop was Coimbra, the city famous for hosting one of the oldest universities in Europe. João José studied and taught there too. A visit to the university was another requirement on my route. Coimbra is also the birthplace of the only one, among the various ancestors I mention here, that I met: my paternal grandfather, also named João. A Coimbra native, he emigrated to Brazil, as a child, around 1910. Coincidently, another relative of mine was also from the Coimbra region. My maternal grandfather’s father, Luiz Francisco, was from Vale de Nogueira, a hamlet in the Lousã mountains, near Coimbra. No wonder he emigrated to Brazil in 1891. Picturesque and hanging on the mountain, Vale de Nogueira is nothing more than a handful of narrow alleys contemplating a superb landscape…
My last stop on this leg of the Route of the Ancestors was Olhão and its surroundings, in the Algarve, birthplace of my great grandfather as I mentioned above. And on my way there, I made several stops - unrelated to my ancestors – in the beautiful region of Alentejo. I visited a handful of graceful towns and villages - Ferreira do Alentejo, Beja, Serpa, Mertola, Alcacer do Sal- many of them surrounded by walls and fortress aiming at defending themselves from the Moors, the Christians and/or the Spaniards.
It felt good to step on the very grounds my ancestors once stepped on. Many, many years ago…