"Is this God's home?"

Situated 1460 km from the European coast and 3750 km from North America, the archipelago of the Azores was discovered during the first half of the 15th century by Portuguese navigators.

Consisting of nine islands, it is divided into three groups: the eastern (Sao Miguel and Santa Maria), the central (Terceira, Graciosa, Sao Jorge, Pico and Faial), and the western (Corvo and Flores).

Apart from the international airports of Santa Maria, Ponta Delgada and Angra, there are flights to all the islands (operated by the regional airline SATA) and regular boat trips between the eastern and western groups. Even the blasé visitor will be touched by the sapphire blue and emerald green lakes, fertile prairies, volcanic cones and craters, colourful hydrangeas and azaleas, 15th-century churches and majestic manor-houses.

This legendary land, consisting of nine poetically-named islands, enjoys –year round mild temperatures (between 14. and 222 - 57'F and 7 I'F) and is a peacefulshelter with a population of 250 000 inhabitants, for whom the words "stress" and pollution" are not part of their vocabulary.

There are many stories to tell of the archipelago's beauty, of fishermen or shepherds, but amongst them is one which was told by a holiday-maker.

As a foreign couple was silently looking at the Caldeira das Sete Cidades, they were interrupted by their six-year-old son, who asked them: "Is this God's home?".