Beautiful Madeira Islands near Portugal

Madeira (under blue spot), Portugal and MoroccoWikiMadeira’s written history started in 1418. It was then the navigators led by João Gonçalves Zarco sighted, after days afloat on the high seas, a small island that saved them from tragedy, a safe harbour they named Porto Santo Island. Next year, 1419, they reached Madeira Island.Navigators Tristão Vaz Teixeira, Bartolomeu Perestrelo & João Gonçalves Zarco then became the first settlers. By order of Portuguese King John I (1357–1433), the colonisation process began 1425 with people of modest means, ex-prisoners of Portugal and some lower nobility. Other settlers were peasant farmers and fishermen hoping for better prospects after the bubonic plagues that ravaged Europe. To develop agriculture, settlers had to clear parts of the dense forest with long lasting fires.King John I statue in LisbonWikiMadeira's settlement history depended on its clear potential. The islands were in an excellent geographical location, which quickly made it an…