This is a tale in which the island of São Miguel is imagined as the body of a great giant — Almourol — once said to guard a maiden named Miraguarda in a castle that bore his name. In this vision, the island’s coastline, villages, capes, and inlets become the limbs and features of this immense figure, lying asleep upon the ocean.

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The Legend

Since Friar Gonçalo Velho — commander of Almourol — was the first captain of the islands of São Miguel and Santa Maria, and since their earliest settlers were said to come from Africa, some ancient storytellers imagined an even older legend:

They spoke of a Moorish giant named Almourol, lord of the castle by the Tagus River near the town of Tancos. He was said to guard a beautiful maiden named Miraguarda.

After his death — when the thread of his life was cut by fate — the giant’s enormous body could not fit inside the castle. He was buried instead along the riverbank. But one day, a great flood carried his corpse downstream, past fields, villages, monasteries, and estates, as if he were still journeying through the land he once ruled.

As he drifted along the Tagus, the land itself seemed to bid him farewell:
green valleys, fertile fields, white estates, and bustling towns stretched along the riverbanks, witnessing his final passage.

Eventually, his body reached the ocean.

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The Journey to the Sea

Carried by the powerful current, the giant passed countless landmarks — Santarém, Azambuja, Alhandra, and Lisbon itself — as people watched in awe and fear.

Some thought him a sea monster.
Others believed him to be a ship or a floating mountain.

Even the mythical river nymphs — the Tagides — observed him cautiously, rising from the waters to glimpse his immense form.

At last, the giant’s body was swept into the vast Atlantic Ocean.

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The Final Rest

The currents carried Almourol far westward until his body came to rest among the Azores, near the rocky shallows known as the Formigas.

There, he remained forever.

Some say that before him, another flood had already brought the body of his beloved — the giantess Cardiga — who became the island of Santa Maria.

Thus, husband and wife lay together once more, transformed into islands in the middle of the ocean — their tombs vast, yet still a kind of prison in the endless sea.

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The Island as a Giant’s Body

The island of São Miguel is imagined as the body of Almourol, stretched across the ocean:

• Head → Nordeste

• Ear → Água Retorta

• Neck → From São Pedro to Povoação

• Beard → Achada Grande to Achada Pequena

• Shoulders → Fenais da Maia (north) and Ponta da Garça (south)

• Arms → Maia and Vila Franca

• Hands → Santa Iria and Vale de Cabaços

• Waist → From Rabo de Peixe to Lagoa (the narrowest part of the island)

• Thighs →

  • North: Santo António to Bretanha
  • South: Ponta Delgada, Relva, and Feteiras

• Knees → Bretanha and Candelária

• Legs → Grota de João Bom and São Sebastião

• Feet →

  • Left foot: Sete Cidades, whose collapse formed the fajã of Mosteiros
  • Right foot: Pico das Camarinhas (also called Pico das Ferrarias)

• Garment trailing behind → The westernmost part of the island, known as Escalvados, worn and barren from long wandering

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A Living Landscape

In this poetic vision, the island is not just land — it is a sleeping giant:

• Mountains become armor
• Valleys become folds of clothing
• Villages become joints and limbs
• Coastlines trace the outline of a mythic body

São Miguel is transformed into something alive, ancient, and legendary — a fusion of geography and imagination.

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Final Reflection

What appears to us as an island in the Atlantic is, in this tale, the eternal resting place of a giant.

A reminder that landscapes are not only shaped by nature —
but also by stories.