The third island — Angra do Heroísmo UNESCO old town, a 300,000-year-old volcanic lava tube, and the only bullfights in the world held on a rope
Terceira is the third-largest island in the Azores and one of Portugal's most historically significant — its capital, Angra do Heroísmo, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the best-preserved example of a 16th-century Portuguese Atlantic city. The volcanic geology is dramatically accessible: Algar do Carvão is a 300,000-year-old lava tube with a 45m vertical shaft open to the sky and an underground lake. Terceira also hosts the Tourada à Corda — a uniquely Azorean form of bullfight where the animal is controlled by rope handlers (pastores) rather than killed, a tradition dating to the 16th ce…
Terceira (Portuguese for 'third') was the third island settled in the Azores sequence (after Santa Maria and São Miguel, c.1450). Its natural harbour at Angra do Heroísmo made it the mandatory Atlantic stopover for Portuguese vessels returning from Brazil, India, and Africa — all Portuguese colonial trade passed through Angra from the late 1400s to the 18th century. The city's fortifications defended the Atlantic treasure route against English, Dutch, and French privateers. Terceira played a pivotal role in the Liberal Wars (1828–1834): the only Portuguese territory to resist the absolutist M…