Entertainment and culture: Facts and characters of the Azorean History are registered in museums, some located in old monasteries of the Azores, fortresses, castles, stone monuments and statues. To visit the museums or the ethnographic houses spread all over the islands is to enter in the Azoreans daily lives and costumes. The patrimonial heritage is very rich and shows the habits of the islands’ inhabitants in masterpieces of painting and sculpture.
The churches, present in every parish, date back from the settlement period, and keep inside real works of art. Many churches and chapels are scattered all over the Azorean Archipelago.
Libraries and public archives, located in the cities of the Azores, preserve a vast literary heritage about the Azorean History. There are several popular festivities in the Archipelago; the Divino Espírito Santo Festival, the municipal festivities, and the festivities devoted to the parishes’ patron saints are the most famous. These festivities occur between May and September, and usually include processions and street animation.
In Terceira Island, the bullfight, in the streets or in the square, comes from a tradition from the time of the settlement period and the Spanish domain. In the streets bullfighting, the ox is tied with a rope and runs through the streets challenged by the bravest. In the square, the most known bullfights occur during the Sanjoaninas festivities.
Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres is the biggest religious festival of the islands.