Sé do Funchal

Funchal’s cathedral, with its Manueline doorway, cedar ceiling and Flemish art.

In the middle of Funchal, a few steps from the marina, the Sé Catedral is the oldest surviving building of the city. Built in the age of the discoveries, it joins a Manueline doorway to an interior of dark cedar wood and gilded altars, with treasures brought from Flanders in the sixteenth century.

History and character

The cathedral was built from the end of the fifteenth century, when Madeira was a young colony of the Portuguese crown, and consecrated in the sixteenth — one of the first great churches of the Atlantic islands. Its wood comes from the island’s forests, and its art from the busy trade routes that linked Madeira to Flanders and to Lisbon.

What to see

The Manueline portal and the Gothic arches of the nave.
The ceiling of carved cedar wood, a masterpiece of island carpentry.
The gilded altars and the Flemish paintings of the retable.
The treasury, with the processional cross offered by King Manuel I.

Visiting

The cathedral is in the centre of Funchal, reached on foot from the marina and the main squares. It remains an active place of worship: visits are welcome outside the hours of Mass, and access may be limited during celebrations.