Vila do Corvo

The sighting of Corvo by the Portuguese navigator Diogo de Teive is believed to have occurred in 1452, around the same time as the discovery of Flores. Due to its size, the small territory did not attract much attention from the settlers of the Azores. This almost pristine natural state was broken in the mid-16th century when the captain-donatary Gonçalo de Sousa sent a group of slaves to Corvo, probably from Cape Verde, with the task of cultivating the land and raising livestock. Around 1580, a contingent of colonists from Flores increased the local population. Life on Corvo unfolded serenely, guided by the rhythms of agriculture, fishing, and livestock farming, in order to guarantee the community’s subsistence. But contrary to expectations, the island’s geographical location allowed it to overcome its anticipated isolation. In fact, Corvo defines the border line that brings together the Portuguese fleets that head there to receive ships from various points of the Portuguese and Spanish Empires and, from there, escort them safely to continental Europe. Therefore, the isolation is broken at the end of the 16th century and throughout the 17th century, often due to the frequent arrival of corsairs and pirates seeking plunder and hostages. On Corvo, they encounter valiant resistance, the defeat suffered in 1632 by pirates from Barbary, in North Africa, being a historic event. The population resorted to throwing stones to repel the invasion. Legend has it that the inhabitants of Corvo received help in the hard and unequal battle from their patron saint, Our Lady of the Rosary, who “deflected all the shots fired by the pirates and returned them, multiplied, to the Moorish ships, managing to rout them.” Since then, the saint has been known as Our Lady of Miracles. The bravery of the inhabitants of Corvo was demonstrated again in 1832, when a group of Corvo residents went to Terceira to request relief from the heavy tribute paid to the island’s lord and the Crown. The minister of King Pedro IV, Mouzinho da Silveira, who was organizing the liberal struggle from Angra, was impressed by the enslavement experienced by the Corvo residents. He proposed the annulment of the tax in money and a reduction to half the payment in wheat. In the same year, the settlement was elevated to town status and became the seat of a municipality, being renamed Vila do Corvo. The 18th and 19th centuries brought American whalers to the coast of the islands of the Western Group. Some Corvo residents were recruited for sperm whale hunting and gained a reputation as courageous harpooners. In 1864, Corvo had almost 1100 inhabitants, but the population decline would be increasingly pronounced from then on. Between 1900 and 1980, Corvo’s population decreased from 808 to 370, a decline mainly due to emigration to the United States and Canada. The inauguration of Corvo’s aerodrome in 1983 was crucial for the modernization of Corvo’s infrastructure. In 1991, the establishment of regular air routes with Flores, Faial, and Terceira promoted the island’s full integration into the archipelago’s dynamics. Agricultural and livestock farming, centered on cattle breeding, is currently the mainstay of the local economy.