Берленгаш: Архипелаг у побережья Португалии

Island group
the archipelago

The Berlengas are a Portuguese archipelago consisting of small Atlantic islands off the coast of Peniche, Portugal, in the Oeste region. These islands were traditionally known to British mariners as "the Burlings". The only inhabited island is its largest island, Berlenga Grande, although there is currently no permanent habitation in the archipelago. The other islands are grouped into two groups of islets, the Estelas Islets and the Farilhões Forcados Islets.

Human occupation on Berlenga Grande dates back to antiquity: the islands are referred to in Ptolemy's Geography as Λονδοβρίς (Londobris). Much later it was referred to as the island of Saturno by Roman geographers, and was visited successively by Muslims, Vikings and privateers. The islands are thought to be a former sacred place adopted by the Phoenicians in the first millennium BC where the cult of Baal–Melqart was celebrated. In 1513, with the support of Queen Eleanor of Viseu, monks from the Order of São Jerónimo established a settlement on the island to offer assistance to navigation and victims of frequent shipwrecks. The monastery founded there, the Monastery of the Misericórdia da Berlenga, remained until the 16th century, when disease, lack of supplies and poor communication (due to constant inclement weather) forced the monks to abandon their service on the island. After the Portuguese Restoration War, during the reign of King John IV, the council of war determined that the demolition of the monastery ruins and the use of their rocks to build a coastal defense would help protect the coastal settlements; the Fort of São João Baptista das Berlengas was constructed from the remnants of the monastery ruins. By 1655, it had already, during its construction, resisted an assault by three Barbary Coast pirates. The island's lighthouse (dubbed Duke of Braganza by locals) was constructed in 1841. In the 20th century a solar panel was installed in the lighthouse's column, providing a field of vision. The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), meeting in Dresden (Germany) from 28 June to 1 July, while adding 18 new sites, included the Berlengas to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR): in a statement on 30 June 2011, the list of classified reserves were presented.

The archipelago is made up of the largest island, Berlenga Grande, and two groups of smaller islets, the Estelas Inlets and the Farilhões Forcados Islets. As the archipelago has been declared a reservation area for the protection of the local fauna (primarily sea birds), it is only visited by scientists and, in the summer, by a number of tourists. There is little soil on the rocky archipelago, so little plant life is supported. At its highest, it rises to above sea level. The island has a number of notable caves, including Gruta Azul (English: "Blue Cave") and Furado Grande (English: "Big Hole"). The Furado Grande is a natural tunnel wide and tall which crosses through the entire island before opening up into a dramatic bay. It has been retrofitted as a rest house for tourists to stay at while visiting the islands.

The Berlengas archipelago is situated off of Peniche, south of the Nazaré Canyon and on the edge of the continental shelf (in Farilhões Islets) on a maritime zone known by its relatively high biological productivity, acting as a meeting point between coastal and oceanic fish species. On the other hand, the upwelling currents originating in deep waters contribute to the development of an aquatic fauna with evident commercial interest. Its variety of fish and marine mammals, marine plants and other marine organisms as led to its classification as a marine reserve. The most frequently observed fish is the common two banded sea bream and the ballan wrasse, along with the European bass, the red porgy, the gilt head bream and the dusky grouper, frequent on Farilhões Islets.

Berlenga Grande did star in a post revolutionary Portuguese film called O Rei das Berlengas (The King of the Berlengas), a comedy about someone who decides to become king of the archipelago. In this movie, several people, tourists and residents from the nearby towns, attempt to declare the independence of the islands, and declare themselves as king, prince or president of the Berlengas. These declarations and liberation armies are nothing more than fiction intended for amusement.