Faial, Portugal
Tourism

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the sale of fine embroidery and basketwork.

The town is probably named after Josse van Hutere, who settled Flemish colonists here at the behest of the Infante Dom Henrique. A less likely theory is that Horta is derived from the island's hydrangeas (hydrangea hortensia) although the plant is actually East Asian in origin. The Parliament of the Azores usually meets in Horta. The town with its well-protected harbor is the most frequent port of call in the North Atlantic for transatlantic sailors of every nation.

The harbor, one of the best in the Azores, is protected by a breakwater 750m/820yd long (note the "painting wall", on which the seamen immortalize themselves). The bay is closed on the south by the Guia peninsula (148m/486ft), formed by a submarine crater, which is linked to the island by a narrow isthmus. There is an attractive walk or boat trip from the harbor around the peninsula to the water-filled Caldeira do Inferno on the south side, continuing to the former whaling station of Porto Pim on the seaward side of the isthmus.