Rua da Carreira
Rua da Carreira is one of the oldest streets in Funchal and is about 770 metres long, between Rua Câmara Pestana and Rua de São João, crossing along its way with a large number of small streets.
Once known as Rua da Carreira dos Cavalos and Rua da Carreira Velha dos Cavalos, it owes its name to the training sessions that the noble knights or the horse races once held here.
Historically, it has been the residence of many distinguished personalities. such as João Gonçalves Zarco, the navigator who discovered Madeira Island, Lieutenant Colonel Artur Alberto Sarmento, historian, geologist and mineralist and Dr. Ângelo Augusto da Silva.
As soon as we start this walk, we find on our south side, the beautiful Photography Museum of Madeira, Atelier Vicente’s, the oldest photography studio in our country, a space full of history, which in the year 2020, won the National Museum of the Year title.
A little ahead, the Júlio Dinis statue, may call your attention, this is a tribute to the Portuguese doctor and writer, who lived in a building in this street and came to Madeira to find a solution to his health condition. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 31, a disease that also claimed the lives of all his 8 siblings.
You will not be indifferent to the Caju building on the corner of Rua da Carreira and Rua do Surdo. A former supermarket, that was abandoned for many years and was in an advanced state of degradation. Its recovery gave origin to a beautiful four-star hotel, the Hotel Caju, which in all its decoration portrays the history of this supermarket. It is a member of the Divine Hotels Collection group, which preserved its centenary walls and whose decoration is by Nini Andrade Silva, a Madeiran interior designer, awarded and internationally recognised. The Hotel offers a healthy food restaurant, called Prima Cajú.
It has a part of its route closed to traffic, offering its visitors several restaurants and cafes with terraces, and several commercial shops.
