Ribeira Grande - Birth Place of Great, Great and to some, Great Grandparents

Panorama of Inside of the church of Our Lady of the Star

Baptismal Font

Tuesday, 16 Sep - Today was the most amazing day. We went to the city of Ribeira Grande (pronounced Grand), where the Bento (pronounced Bent) family is from. Cindy and my Great Grandfather, Marianno de Sao Bento was born, as was his father, Manoel de Sao Bento and probably his father Joao de Sao Bento. We visited the church where they were all baptized, built in 1507. It was just breathtaking to be in a place with that much historical significance to our family. And we saw what we believe to be the baptismal font where the actual acts took place.


The church, called Matriz (for the main church in the council) is also called Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Estrela (Our Lady of the Star). It was amazingly ornate, with saints all along the outer walls and gold plated or perhaps solid gold ornaments at the front of the church. We had a spirit of awe in the place and were taken in by it's Catholic beauty.


The outside of the church is very typical of churches on Sao Miguel, though larger than many. It has a spire on the side of the church where the bells ring loudly. It was a beautiful experience to take pictures from the gazebo in front of the church stairs.

After visiting the church, we enjoyed a little shop directly in front of the church. Most all of us bought authentic items from the locals. It was a fun little shopping time.

Then we ate lunch at "Let It Be" restaurant. It was set right on the ocean with big waves crashing directly in front and next to swimming pools right on the water. The food was very reasonable and was delicious.

We went to a Museum of Emigration. It was much of a museum and didn't focus on older emigration, but the hostess there was fantastically friendly. She was born in Providence, RI, USA and spoke perfect English. We got to talking with her about the name Sao Bento and she said that she knew someone of that name. She wrote his name and street on a piece of paper and gave us general directions on how to find his house. So much to everyone's surprise, off we went to find Doctor Oliveira Sao Bento.

I asked in a local watering hole, where he lived. The bartender gave me exactly the house he lived in. We just went up to the door and knocked. Unbelievably they allowed us (Starley, Cindy and I) into their home. In my very broken Portuguese I explained that we were of the family Bento and thought that we might be related. They then proceeded to open their hearts and their home to us.

They shared information about their family, but we were
unable to make a direct connection. Still they considered us Primos (cousins). They, Oliveira and his wife, Hilda, told us about his father who was a somewhat famous author, poet. His name was also Oliveira Sao Bento. And their daughter, Marlena, was also an author and he gave Starley one of her books (one of only two that he had).


They gave us a tour of their house, which was a marvelous 3-story home. They even showed us their "secret room" that opened from a bookshelf. Then we went outside to their garden with a six-foot-around palm tree. Their hospitality was over-the-top, especially when you realize that we just knocked on their door unannounced. We just loved the experience.

Lago de Fogo

We came back to Ponta Delgada by way of a mountain road that took us past the Lago do Fogo (Lake of fire). It was a beautiful overlook down to the town of Ribeira Grande and the lake was picturesque.

We had dinner in a "Mall Food Place" and was amazed at the freshness of the fish (the waiter showed them to us with heads, and they were left on the cooked plates). The prices were very reasonable and the food was very flavorful.

Overlooking Ribeira Grande and the North Ocean