Sao Miguel - Cauldron of the Seven Cities Caldeira das Sete Cidades

About 17km/11mi northwest of Ponta Delgada is the Caldeira des Sete Cidades in which, according to legend, seven towns founded by expelled Spanish bishops were sunk. This is a volcanic crater which collapsed during some mighty eruption in prehistoric times and was given its present form with a diameter of some 7km/4.5mi and a circumference of 17km/10.5mi, by another violent eruption in 1445. The caldera is occupied by three small and two large crater lakes, the latter two - the Lagoa Grande or Lagoa Verde, with clear green water, and the Lagoa Azul, with deep blue water - being separated only by a narrow strip of land. The walls of the crater, faling steeply down for some 300m/1,000ft, are surrounded by a fringe of woods, ferns and laurels.