Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.

Funchal's name comes from the abundance of fennel (funcho) found on the island. It was an important shipping center during the 15th-17th centuries. Often reffered to as the 'garden island' due to its lush vegetation and numerous botanical gardens.

The city centre is small enough to explore on foot. Orange city buses can take you around and up to Monte for some great views, or take the Funchal Cable Car (Teleférico do Funchal) with views of the city from above in a gondola. The upper station is at Monte, where you can visit the Monte Palace gardens and the church at Monte.

This settlement began around 1424. Owing to its geographic location, the site became an important maritime port, while its productive soils became a focus of new settlers. Its coastal position, the most productive on the island, quickly permitted Funchal to develop an urban core and surpass the populations of other settlements, which slowly gravitated around it.

In the early 15th century, as part of its administrative role, the settlement received its primary lighthouse between 1452 and 1454, when it was elevated to the status of vila and municipal seat. Funchal became an important transfer point for European commercial interests; many sailors and merchants located in Funchal in order to take advantage of the transient conditions of port. Christopher Columbus was one of the early settlers, but later many of the merchant families established commercial interests on the island.

During the second half of the 15th Century, the sugar industry expand significantly along the southern coast. By the end of the century the construction of the administrative Paços do Concelho and the Paços dos Tabeliães (completed in 1491), construction of a church (began in 1493 and later raised to cathedral in 1514), and finally the construction of a hospital and customs-house in the village. In 1508, it was elevated to the status of city by King Manuel I of Portugal.

The island, and Funchal specifically, were vulnerable to privateer and pirate attacks. In 1566, French corsairs in the month of September departed from Bordeaux with a force of 1200 men, on three mains ships a small fleet of eight support craft. This armada sacked Porto Santo: the events were relayed to the settlements on Madeira, and in the villas of Machico and Santa Cruz the citizenry armed themselves for the enevitable. In Funchal, the governaor did not take any action that could be construed as hostile. Meanwhile, the armada anchored in the beach of Formosa, disembarked a contingent of 800 men that marched towards the city in three columns, encountering resistance until the main bridge in São Paulo. At the bridge the privateers encountered a force from the small fort. At the road near Carreira, the attackers were confronted by a small group of Franciscan monks, which were quickly dispatched. Funchal's fortifications were finally assaulted by land, where its defense was thin; the defenders could not even reposition many of the canons directed towards the sea. The city suffered a violent sack that lasted fifteen days, where little remained.

During the 16th century, Funchal was an important stop-over for caravels travelling between the Indies and the New World. The wine culture appeared during early settlement, through the incentives from Henry the Navigator. By 1455, the Venezian navigator, Luís de Cadamosto, on visiting Madeira, referred to the excellence of the Madeirense wines, principally the Malvasia castes from the island of Crete, which were being exported in greater numbers. By the end of the 16th century, the celebrated English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare, cited the important export and notoriety of the Madeiran Malvasia castes.

The growth of viticulture in Madeira expanded when the sugar industry was attacked by cheaper exports from the New World and Africa, but also from various epidemics and the after affects of the 1566 privateer sacks. In the 17th century, commercial treaties with England brought increased investments to a business that was still insular. Many commercial winemakers from England moved to the island, establishing a change in the commerce, the economy, and the lifestyle of the community. This incremental growth expanded the city with new estates, and a new merchant class which populated the urban quarters.

During the 19th century there were epidemics, aggravating the economy and forcing some to return to sugar plantations. In order to maintain the level of development, many landowners tried to plant new more-resistant castes, but of an inferior quality, in order to support the industry.

Visitors marked a period when Funchal became a center of tourism and therapeutic health. With the formal creation of the Port of Funchal, and later the establishment of the Santa Catarina Airport, Funchal turned into a major international tourist destination supported by a series of hotels and ocean-front residences.

Photos of Funchal, Madeira Island Portugal 2011 © Joe Mendonca