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🏔️ Peak

Pico do Facho

The highest point of Porto Santo: 517 m. The name comes from the great fires — fachos — lit on the summit to warn the population of approaching enemy ships, which gave a few hours to prepare for pirate attacks. No road reaches the top: you climb on foot along a vereda that starts at Pico do Castelo, an unmarked route with no official figures; the classified PS PR2 trail skirts the peak on its northern or southern side. From the summit, the whole island, the beach and the islets lie below.

  • Highest point
  • Warning fires
  • No road access
  • From Pico do Castelo
Altitude
517 m
Price
Free
Duration
On foot from Pico do Castelo
Difficulty
Easy
Crowds
Quiet
GPS
33.08433, -16.32359
🧭 How to get there
The place stands 118 m from the sítio of Serra de Fora, the nearest one (Porto Santo).
📖 History and nature
In the same year Funchal was sacked for fifteen days by the French under Peyrot de Monluc. On Pico do Castelo a 16th-century fortlet served as a refuge from these raids; on Pico do Facho, fires warned of approaching ships. No road reaches the summit; the path starts at Pico do Castelo. It is not a classified trail and has no official distance or time. The name recalls the fires (fachos) lit to signal approaching pirate ships.
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Good to know about Pico do Facho2

  • 1566 — French corsairs — The church is pillaged and almost destroyed

    In the same year Funchal was sacked for fifteen days by the French under Peyrot de Monluc. On Pico do Castelo a 16th-century fortlet served as a refuge from these raids; on Pico do Facho, fires warned of approaching ships.

  • The Pico do Facho path — Unmarked vereda from Pico do Castelo

    No road reaches the summit; the path starts at Pico do Castelo. It is not a classified trail and has no official distance or time. The name recalls the fires (fachos) lit to signal approaching pirate ships.

Services within 1.5 km1

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