Legend of the Pêro Botelho : 2022 Europa Stories & Myths

 

2022-May-09

Azores’ Legend of the Pêro Botelho illustrated by Jorge Macedo

Silence is what Pêro Botelho gets back in return whenever he begs “Get me out of here! Get me out of here!”, from the bottom of the Furnas cave, on the island of São Miguel, where he has been trapped since immemorial time. 

A man of deplorable character, Pêro Botelho had the habit, like the other inhabitants of the region, of boiling wicker and corn in volcanic calderas of boiling water. It was more common, however, to use its mud to cure various diseases, such as rheumatism. 

One day, when going there to find the balsamic material, Pêro Botelho lost his footing and fell into the caldera. He attempted an appeal for help, but no one would have heard him. And he was never seen again. The only sign of life would be the cry for a hypothetical rescue.

The residents of Povoação began to call the smoking orifice "Caldeira de Pêro Botelho", or "Pêro Botelho’s Caldera".