Gaula is a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 freguesia

Freguesia

Freguesia is the Portuguese term for a secondary local administrative unit in Portugal and some of its former colonies, and a former secondary local administrative unit in Macau, roughly equivalent to an administrative parish. A freguesia is a subdivision of a concelho, the Portuguese synonym term...

(civil parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

) in the concelho

Concelho

Concelho , in the Portuguese language, is the word municipality, when referring to the territory. The word município is used when municipality means the organ of State...

(municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

) of Santa Cruz in the Madeira Islands.

History

Gaula has been inhabited since the 15th century and its first settlers were northern Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

, northern Italians

Italian people

The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...

, French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 and Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Gaula was granted the rank of freguesia in 1558 and its name may derive from Amadis de Gaula

Amadis de Gaula

Amadis de Gaula is a landmark work among the knight-errantry tales which were in vogue in 16th century Iberian Peninsula, and formed the earliest reading of many Renaissance and Baroque writers, although it was written at the onset of the 14th century.The first known printed edition was published...

.

Geography

The population in 2001 was 3092, its density was 437.3/km² and the area is 7,07 km². It is located about 8 km NE of Funchal

Funchal

Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...

 and about 8 km SW of Machico

Machico

Machico is a city and municipality in the northeastern part of the island of Madeira, in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. The easternmost municipality on the island, it is also the third most populous area; its population was 21,747...

.

The main industry are agriculture. Fruit trees are planted around Gaula. Gaula is surrounded with several streams and the land is sloped mainly at the 20° to a 30° angle. Farmlands and pastures dominate Gaul while the forests and some grasslands and barren lands cover the rest of it. It is connected with a road linking Funchal and Machico and a small road linking to Camacha

Camacha

Camacha is a parish in the district of Santa Cruz in the Madeira Islands. It is about 6.5 km northeast of Funchal, 12 km south of Porto da Cruz and 7.5 km southwest of Santo António da Serra...

 and Santo António da Serra

Santo António da Serra (Santa Cruz)

Santo António da Serra is a parish in the district of Santa Cruz in the Madeira Islands. The population in 2001 is 982, its density is 66,5/km² and the area is 14.77 km²/1,477 ha. It is located W of Machico and ENE of Funchal. The main industry are agriculture...

. The Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 is to the southeast. The mountains are to the northwest.

Geographycal coordinates

• Location:
  • Latitude: 32.667 (32°40') N
  • Longitude: 16.81667 (16°49') W
• Altitude:
  • Lowest: Atlantic Ocean
  • Centre: 202 m (606 ft)
  • Highest: about 600 to 700 m
• Postal code: 9100 Santa Cruz

Facilities

Gaula has 2 School

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s (1 public and 1 private) , 2 main Churches and several Chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

s, and a main square

Town square

A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, and town green.Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets,...

 (Praça).

External links

• Map and aerial photos
  • Street map from Mapquest. MapPoint or Google
  • Aerial photograph from MSR Maps or Google
• Coordinates: 32°40′0"N 16°49′0"W