Mature Flâneur
Why is Funchal Yellow?
Madeira’s capital makes me feel so mellow
This story/photo essay is actually a result of my oppositional behavior. My favorite Medium.com publication, Globetrotters, announced a monthly challenge for March: write a travel story that features the color green:
As I was ankling round the old town of Funchal, Madeira (a Portuguese island off the coast of North Africa) at the time, I thought it would be easy to find something green to write about. Instead what I spied with my little eye was the dazzling ochre yellow of the old Forte São Tiago. I was captivated by the color. The fort was built in 1614 to protect Funchal from pirate attacks that earlier devastated the port town. How times have changed. Hordes of cruise ship passengers do invade, yes; but no more pirates. Today the waterfront around the fort is a designated swimming area, and within there’s only a fine-dining restaurant.
Exiting the fort and heading into the edge of the old town, for the first time I noticed how much of it was painted various shades of yellow: mustard, banana, lemon, butter. Just looking at the color yellow made me hungry:
One of the main tourist attractions of the old town is Rua Santa Maria, the oldest street on Madeira, which features brightly painted doorways by local artists. They brought this dilapidated alleyway back to life, and helped rejuvenate the entire area, which is now full of shops and restaurants. The yellow highlights on many of these doors now popped out at me:
And then, I saw yellows everywhere. Even the flag of Madeira (below, right) has a bright yellow center stripe:
That tree next to the yellow construction crane, above — it’s a tamarind tree, filled with bright yellow flowers in bloom. And hanging on a trellis were giant yellow-and-purple blossoms I have never seen before, the size of sunflowers.
Why, even Madeira’s traditional drink, poncha, is bright yellow. It’s a potent blend of sugarcane brandy, sugar and lemon juice, and believe me, it will punch-ya. The Madeira TimeOut website advises to drink poncha while standing, so you don’t lose track of where the floor is.
Rounding the corner on my way back to our hotel, I came upon the old art-deco farmers’ market, its banana-yellow color a perfect match for a passerby in a straw hat. Even the beautiful blue azulejos on the market walls were framed with a wreath of yellow bananas and other yellow fruits — because bananas are the island’s main cash crop. There is in fact a “banana belt” arond the lower eleveations of the island. Even in funchal, small banana plantations fill up plots of land between buildings.
Back at my hotel — which was also painted yellow — I asked the man at the front desk, what is is with all the yellow? He told me confidently that all historic buildings in Funchal were officially required to be painted yellow. Ah, so that’s why it’s mostly old Funchal that’s yellow! And why yellow, I pursued? Because, he replied, not missing a beat, Forte São Tiago was originally painted yellow. And why was the fort painted yellow in the first place, I kept asking like a relentless toddler. At that point he threw up his hands: I don’t know!
I never did find out the reason why. So, for now the mystery remains unsolved. (If you have any theories, please add them in the comments section). But I can tell you one thing: all this yellow makes a fellow quite mellow. I’ve really come to love this charming little Portuguese city on the edge of this breezy green island far off in the Atlantic. I’m sure this won’t be our last visit to Madeira.
Want more Madeira? You can find all six of my Madeira stories at the top of this list: