Ribeiras

Ribeiras is a civil parish in the municipality of Lajes do Pico in the Azores. The population in 2011 was 925, in an area of 34.17 km2. It contains the localities Cabeços, Caminho de Cima, Canto, Cruz, Ladeira do Capitão, Pontas Negras, Manchillas, Outeiros, Ribeira Grande, Ribeira Seca, Ribeiras and Santa Bárbara.

==History== The first navigators dropped anchor in the deep waters of the Bay of Ribeiras around 1460, taking advantage of the numerous ravines that descended from the mountains of the north. These early settlers were primarily fisherman, constructing boats and working during the day, and populating some areas near access to potable water. In 1502, countrymen of Fernão Álvares Evangelho, the first settler of Lajes, arrived in the area of Santa Cruz and joined-up with Fernão Álvares following many of the paths and trails originally travelled by animals deposited on the island by Infante D. Henriques's early exploration fleets. One of the first settlements, Santa Cruz was an homage of faith to those fishers that returned successfully every year, after living off the sea, on long voyages, hunting whale, fishing for tuna and other species. Other settlers cultivated the patchwork of parcels, growing corn, constructing mills in many of the ravines, and raising cattle to support, initially, a subsistence lifestyle. These early settlers constructed a chapel to the invocation of Nossa Senhora do Socorro, though they eventually constructed a new Church to honor Santa Barbara, which gave its name to the new community in the 16th Century.