Praia da Vitória is a town in the Portugal Autonomous Region of the Azores, (Região Autónoma dos Açores) on the eastern fringe of the island of Terceira Island. It is the second largest town on the island, after Angra do Heroísmo. Until 1981, when the Azorean Parliament passed an act (Decreto Legislativo Regional n.º 7/81/A, of June 20th, amended by Decreto Legislativo Regional n.º 29/83/A, of August 26th) elevating Praia da Vitória to the rank of city ("cidade" in Portuguese), the town was also known as Vila da Praia da Vitória (in Portuguese "vila" means a small town and is the title given to all capitals of munipalities which are not cities).

Praia da Vitória is a services, fishing and agricultural community, and boasts a large new marina popular with the yachting crowd. It is the location of the only sizable sand beach on Terceira. The town has roughly 6,000 inhabitants and is the seat of the municipality of the same name ("concelho da Praia da Vitória").

Settled in the early 15th century around a natural harbor, Praia, being the most important settlement in the fertile NE Terceira Island flatland known as the "Ramo Grande" area, and then an important wheat producing center, was designated a "vila" (i.e. the seat of a municipality) of the Portuguese realm in 1480. The harbor was the scene of a naval battle in 1829 between the Liberals and the Absolutists, competing factions in support of King Pedro IV and King Miguel, respectively, during the Liberal Wars. The Liberals won a decisive victory, and the town, then known only as Praia ("sandy beach" in Portuguese) was granted by royal decree the name Praia da Vitória (Victory Beach) in honor of the victory.

The town boasts two notable churches, several public squares, and a number of hotels and restaurants. It is popular with windsurfers because of the constant stiff seabreeze. The town edges up against a low mountain ridge called The Torch ("Facho", because in its top a primitive lighthouse and lookout place against pirates, and later a marine and military semaphoric signal station, operated for about 400 years), and a large public park atop the ridge affords excellent views of the surrounding countryside and the Atlantic Ocean.

Lajes Air Base, a joint United States and Portuguese air force base, lies three km to the north of the town. American servicemen frequent the restaurants and clubs in the town and add considerably to the local economy.

Praia da Vitoria hosts an annual triathlon.

Parish of Praia da Vitoria

The parish population population in 2001 is 6,171, its density is 204.7/km² and the area is 30.15 km². The parish is also known as Santa Cruz. It is home to 30.47% of the entire municipality.

Geography

• Location:
  • Latitude: 38.4433 (38°26') N
  • Longitude: 27.0667 (27°4') W
• Altitude: 1 m

The population is 20,252 (2001) and the area is 162.29 km. The density is 124.79/km². It is one of the largest municipality in the Azores. The district includes the southwestern half of the island of Terceira. It is encircled almost entirely with the Atlantic Ocean except for the east. It is bordered by Angra do Heroísmo to the west and south.

Almost 10 of the 11 parishes or 97.91% live in parishes over 1,000.

The council was created in 1480.

District

Here are 11 parishes of Praia da Vitória:

• Agualva
• Biscoitos
• Cabo da Praia
• Fonte do Bastardo
• Fontinhas
• Lajes
• Porto Martins
• Praia da Vitória
• Quatro Ribeiras
• São Brás
• Vila Nova

Settlements and geographic areas