The Volcanism Centre is located next to the São Vicente Caves, in the cliff opposite the São Vicente brook, in an enchanting village on the north coast of Madeira, at the bottom of the valley where the formation of the island began. It brings culture and knowledge together with leisure and entertainment in a pavilion that allows 90 visitors at a time to watch audiovisual shows that recreate the geological evolution of the caves, the eruption of a volcano and a simulation of the birth of the Archipelago of Madeira in an educational and entertaining way. This centre is designed to complement a visit to the Caves, using them as an example of the geological formation of Madeira. Serving as a centre for bringing together knowledge, it seeks to disseminate technical and scientific information. The Garden is predominantly made up of endemic plants and is provided with a series of footpaths, where the elements of forest and waterways come together in harmony and seek to pay homage to water and to life.

A Visit to the Volcanism Pavilion

Made up of 3 rooms and a simulated elevator, the pavilion can receive about 90 persons at a time. It is 12 metres long, by 7 metres high, by 10 metres in width.

In the first room of the Pavilion – Volcanoes, the Dragons of the Earth – one finds an exposition of panels that illustrate and inform, to divulging and promoting the knowledge of the geological processes, notable volcanologists, the types of volcanic eruptions, the location of volcanic activity around the world using a map of the world, the myths, the beliefs, the creative and destructive power of a volcano.

Among the famous volcanologists, Gaspar Frutuoso was considered one of the first volcanologists of the civilised world in the 16th century; in the 20th century, we find Zbyzewski, José Agostinho, Mendonça Dias, etc. However, volcanoes always fascinated the Greek philosophers, such as Heraclitas, Pithagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Empedocles and Pliny, who are considered the Fathers of Volcanology. The German Jesuit Kircher, Deodat de Gratet de Dolomieu and Lord Hamilton were considered the forerunners of Volcanology in the 18th century, along with the French volcanologist Alfred Lacroix in the 20th century, for having investigated the eruption of Mt. Pelee in Martinique, which produced a devastating “glowing cloud”. It is also possible to learn about contemporary volcanologists (Haroun Tazzief and the French couple Maurice and Katia Krafft) in this room.

The makeup and the types of volcanic eruptions, such as the Hawaiian, Strombolian, Plinian and Vulcanian; volcanoes as fountains of life; the historic eruptions (Mt. Vesuvius at Pompeii on 24 August, 79 A.D.[Nota do tradutor: original tem a data 1979], Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines on 15 June 1991, among others); the power of volcanoes to create and destroy; the benefits for man in the realm of health (hot springs) and as a source of energy (power station at Ribeira Grande on São Miguel Island, Azores); in the production of geoproducts (sulphur, borax, igneous rocks and precious stones such as diamonds, quartz, feldspar and olivine) and the phenomenon of the Capelinhos Volcano on the Island of Faial, on 27 September 1957, are themes that are well documented in this room, a room that unlocks and allows one to get a close up look at all the volcanic activity worldwide, which is shown on a world map. Mythology and beliefs about volcanoes are other themes included in this visit: Mt. Hekla, considered the Door of Hell in Iceland; Hephaestus, god of fire in Greece; Pele, the goddess of fire in Hawaii; Lengai, the Owner of Life and Death in Africa; the Punishment of Mt. Bromo in Indonesia; and Fujiyama, the Protector in Japan. In this room, you can also come and see close up the material spewed out by a volcano, with an exposition of ashes, lapilli, pumice stones, rope lava, columnar jointing, obsidian, etc.

Learning about the origin and evolution of the solar system and the Earth is only possible if we go through the Time Tunnel located in the Pavilion, where everything that happened about 4,550 million years ago is explained. This tunnel leads us to a second room where the origin and evolution of the Archipelago of Madeira is particularly well demonstrated in a 10-minute audiovisual show. In an educational and fun way, it explains the way the Earth was born, and specifically, it recreates the volcanic eruptions that brought the islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, Desertas, and Selvagens into being. The show is designed to complement a visit to the Caves, using them as an example of the geology of Madeira.

The long process of evolution, which produced the extraordinary variety of life forms that make up the flora and fauna of Madeira and that today populate the island and reinforce its natural attraction and ecological value, is explained by means of elaborately detailed panels that allow the visitor to see the native jewels that include birds such as Madeira long-toed pigeon (Columba trocaz H.), Madeira firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus madeirensis H.) and chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs madeirensis S.), the snail (Phenacolimax madeirovitrina ruivensis), a land gastropod that uses its serrated tongue to cut up its food, the Madeira lizard (Lacerta dugesii M.), as well as endemic species of insects that characterise an atypical insular ecosystem, and are therefore even more interesting. In relation to the flora, only the main trees of the Laurissilva are on display, such as the laurel, or bay tree (Laurus azorica S.), the fetid laurel (Ocotea foetens Ait.), Madeira mahogany (Persea indica L.) and the Canary laurel (Appollonias barbujana ssp. barbujana Cav.). In short, it is not only a natural treasure of great ecological value, but also a beautiful and surprising mosaic where life adopts forms that are not found anywhere else in the world. Their economic and social importance to the island’s hydrology, as well as their value in the island’s landscape has been recognised internationally, being honoured with the classifications of Biogenetic Reserve of the Council of Europe in 1992 and World Nature Heritage under the auspices of UNESCO in 1999.

By means of a scale model (1/2400) of the São Vicente Valley on display in the Volcanism Centre, it is now possible to see up close and in detail the magnificent landscapes of the Valley that give splendid views to the sea and the land, and to see the location of the island’s oldest formations that emerged more than 5 million years ago (Lameiros).

The third room of the Pavilion allows us to get to know the immense riches of nature in the Archipelago of Madeira, which is comparable only to its beauty – the Nature Reserves of Madeira Island: the Nature Reserve of the Desertas Islands, the Nature Reserve of the Selvagens Islands, the Garajau Nature Reserve, the Nature Reserve of Rocha do Navio, and the Laurissilva Forest. All are well presented in an audiovisual presentation designed allow visitors to learn about them, get to know them and preserve them.

And who never had a desire to discover what is below the earth’s surface? Now it is possible to give wings to your spirit of adventure and go where no one has dared go before and feel the pulse of the depths of the island in a fantastic voyage to the interior of the Earth. The only means for reaching the centre of the Earth is by a simulated descent in an elevator, which takes the visitor through a tube of incandescent lava. When we reach the core of the Earth, made up basically of iron, nickel and some sulphides, we can observe the different reactions that exist there through a set of mirrors. This whole trip is designed to simulate a distance of 3000 km, describing the different parts of the Earth’s make up: the Crust (the surface of the Earth), the Mantel, and the Core.

The visit to the Volcanism Pavilion ends with a well-designed audiovisual presentation that recreates all the steps needed to understand the Caves themselves. The recreation in this spectacular and modern show includes the following events: the Big Bang, the Formation of the Universe; the Formation of the Earth; the Oceans; Volcanoes; the Island; Water; Living Beings, Life, and present-day Madeira.

The visit to the Volcanism Centre ends with a view of the large garden of endemic plants.