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Between May and June 1951, Piero Ghiglione (1883 – 1960), a renowned Italian mountaineer, visited the Azores, from which the article «Una semtima alle Azzorre», with 13 photographs of him, apparently published in the magazine «Le Vie del Mondo» (pp. 1319-1330) in 1952Extract:«Volcanic debris removed from the soil, repaid the troubles of the land removal by the exceptional fertility, raised cattle and sheep, trades and industries developed, the Azores, for a long time undisturbed by wars and cataclysmes, are a peaceful and happy people. On the island of Santa Maria you can find a very modern airport, obligatory stopover for all transatlantic lines; in San Michele there is an American military airport. In Fayal, the great building of the Transocean cable company has emerged, excellent and luxurious hotels have emerged in Santa Maria and San Michele. In addition to the transatlantic ships that stop at Ponta Delgada, an excellent fortnightly service joins Lisbon with all the islands; in addition, for some time, a local air service joins Santa Maria, San Michele and Terceira. However, foreign visitors are not very frequent, for obvious reasons of distance; neither was the purpose of my stay in the Azores to visit the archipelago, but the ascent of the Peak. It was the exquisite, very cordial hospitality of the Azores, officials and private citizens, that made it possible for me to visit the beautiful islands of the Ocean, a visit to which, now that I have done it, I would have been extremely sorry to give up.And here I got off the plane from Boston to Santa Maria, where, at the top of a hundred and forty steps, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima rises, and where I could visit the superb garden of the President of the «Municipal Chamber», rich with very rare exotic and indigenous plants. Santa Maria is the only one in the Azores to have a wide gliding section, which determined the choice of location for the airport, not far from which an elegant hotel arises where flowers and sun abound, but also the impetuous winds of the Atlantic, under which the large ones jingle bells lower to the ground while the shameless, velvety petals close in full swing. A kilometer from the hotel, here is the capital, Vila do Porto; another kilometer further, here is the real port, an inlet surrounded by high rocks peaked on the sea that force pirates to anchor out, in the open sea. Along the coast, the unique geological structure of the island stands out: above a base of dark basalt, with crystal spots of olivine, lays a light sandy gray layer, covered by a limestone amalgam. Inside, the lonely aggressive beauty of the northern part contrasts with the rocky slopes of the western part, with the mountains of the eastern slope. Farming, livestock, vineyards, fishing, ceramic factories, whale oil refineries constitute Santa Maria’s economic resources. »About the author, see:
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