Praia da Vitória is a city and a municipality on Terceira island, one of the five islands that form the central group of the Azores Archipelago. According to the 2011 Census, it has 21 035 inhabitants, according to the gentile, 21 thousand praienses. Its area is 162.29 km2, geographically arranged into 11 parishes. The municipality possesses one of the largest marinas in the Azores, the Marina of Praia da Vitória, inserted in the bay of Praia da Vitória, a very important bay. But this place wasn’t always called this way – “Praia da Vitória” -. Lets find out why.
Battle of Praia da Vitória
Previously, this place was called Praia village, but everything was to change in 1829 with the liberal war.
In 1828, D. Miguel (known as “the Absolutist”) assumed power but did not respect during his reign the guidelines imposed by the Constitutional Charter, as this limited the king’s powers. He thus became an absolutist king, an era that was marked by the persecution of liberals. Many of them were exiled. The absolutist regime gained strength and was supported throughout Portugal, with the exception of Terceira Island, which remained loyal to liberal principles.
The captain-general of Terceira, Tovar de Albuquerque, was a person with absolutist tendencies and took what happened on the mainland lightly.
Miguel’s attitudes provoked reactions on the mainland, due to the population’s discontent with his authoritarianism. This discontent was particularly felt among the liberals of Oporto and on the island of Terceira itself.
These events triggered the revolt of the 5th Hunters Battalion, which led to the deposition of Tovar de Albuquerque. The importance of the Fortress of São João Baptista, which served as a pillar in the defence of the liberal regime, should be highlighted. However, the Porto revolt would fail and D. Miguel would send a new captain-general to Terceira Island, Sousa Prego by name. He was prevented from disembarking and taking up his post, and ended up doing so on the island of São Miguel.
The population of the island of Terceira, loyal to absolutism, still tried a rebellion against the liberals, but without success. The liberal party was in exile in Europe, but saw this situation on the island of Terceira as a way of raising its resistance and affirming its ideals.
The island of Terceira asserted itself as the bastion of liberalism in Europe, even more so in a country that was totally miguelist. In 1829, Palmela, one of the liberal leaders, would appoint Vila Flor as captain-general of the Azores, based in Angra do Heroísmo. Outraged by these challenges to his regime, Miguel tried one last struggle to bring Terceira Island under his power and ideals. It was the only place in the country that had challenged him. He sent a powerful fleet of 21 ships to the bay of Vila da Praia, on Terceira Island, which he landed on 11 August 1829. Under the command of Admiral José da Rosa Coelho, there were 3000 men, armed with around 370 cannons.
On land, the Liberals defended the coast over a length of 5 kilometres with the help of their forts in order to prevent the landing of the Miguelistas. The westerly wind carried the boats eastwards, and both landing attempts failed and the Liberals got their way. At the end of the day, the Miguelistas acknowledged the failure of their attack, much due to the strategic error of their commanders. This episode was extremely important for the liberal cause, which achieved its first great triumph. This event led to the denomination of Praia as Praia da Vitória.
From that day onwards, the perfect conditions were created so that the liberals could fight against D. Miguel’s absolutism, a fact that came to be confirmed in the civil war between 1832 and 1834.