Vista do Rei
Over the lake.
Chris — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Monitotxi from Barcelona, Spain — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Navin75 — CC BY-SA 2.0 · XbeeaX — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Sete Cidades Lagoon lies at the top of the Sete Cidades volcanic caldera in western São Miguel, in Portugal's Azores archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic. The famous Vista do Rei viewpoint overlooks it, about 15 km in a straight line from Ponta Delgada. The lake sits in one of the largest collapse calderas in the world, formed in three phases of collapse after explosive eruptions, the first about 35,700 years ago and the last about 15,740 years ago. The lake is up to 29 metres deep, and the volcano has had 17 eruptions inside the caldera in the last 5,000 years, making it the most active in the archipelago. The lake is split in two, one part blue and the other green, separated by a narrow bridge, and the steep green caldera walls surround it. On its floor sits a small village of white houses among green fields divided by hedgerows, and blue hydrangeas line the roads. Fog often fills the caldera, so go on a clear day and go up early. You can walk the caldera rim or go down to the village and the lake.
Over the lake.
Between the two lakes.
Blue flowers.
Sete Cidades caldera, western São Miguel, Azores, Portugal
A narrow bridge splits it in two.
On a clear day, early.