Caldeirão do Corvo

Corvo is seventeen square kilometres and about four hundred people, the smallest inhabited island in the Azores, and almost all of it is one volcano. The Caldeirão is the crater at the top: some two kilometres across and three hundred metres deep, with two lakes on its floor and a scatter of small islets and mounds between them, grazed by cattle brought down by track. From the rim viewpoint at around five hundred metres the whole bowl is laid out, and on clear days Flores stands across the channel. A path descends to the floor for those with time. The island has one settlement, Vila do Corvo, with narrow lanes and no street names because none are needed. Getting there is the difficulty - a small plane or a ferry from Flores, both cancelled routinely by weather - and cloud sits in the crater often.

History

The Medici Atlas of 1351 already marks an Insula Corvi Marini, the island of the cormorant, and the navigator Diogo de Teive found Corvo and Flores in 1452 on his way back from the Banks of Newfoundland. Early attempts at settlement failed, and only in 1580 did a permanent settlement take hold; the parish of Corvo was constituted in 1674 (Wikipedia, Corvo Island).

The landscape

• The crater - two kilometres across and three hundred metres deep.
• The lakes and islets - water and small mounds on the caldera floor.
• The rim view - the whole bowl, with Flores across the channel on clear days.
• Vila do Corvo - one settlement of about four hundred people, without street names.

When to go

May to September for the best chance of flights and clear weather. Half a day on the island; realistically an overnight, given transport.

Good to know

Flights and ferries are cancelled constantly by weather - allow spare days and expect to be stuck. Cloud fills the crater frequently. Accommodation and food on Corvo are very limited. The descent to the floor is long and there is no shelter.

Nearby

Flores is across the channel; Vila do Corvo is the island's only settlement.

Key facts