Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture

World Heritage

Portugal

🎧 Listen to Introduction

Located on Pico, the second largest volcanic island in the Azores, this 987-hectare site consists of a series of long, spaced-apart walls that run inland from and parallel to the rocky coast. The walls were built to protect thousands of small, continuous rectangular plots (currais) from wind and seawater. Evidence of this viticulture dates back to the 15th century, and is found in a remarkable assemblage of fields, houses and early 19th-century estates, wine cellars, churches and ports. The site’s exceptionally beautiful man-made landscape is the best remnant of the extensive grape cultivation that once existed.