Água Retorta

Água Retorta is a civil parish in the municipality of Povoação, on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.

[3] Paraphrasing Gaspar Frutuoso, Urbano de Mendonça Dias affirmed that the name was derived from the twists the ravine made, as it descended to rocks in the sea.

[3] At that time, its vicar indicated the existence of 103 homes in the village, a population of 74, as well as a small hermitage dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Penha de França.

[3] In addition to this chapel, there existed another temple to the invocation of Nossa Senhora das Mercês, situated in Fajã do Calhau, on land that pertained to D. Ermelinda Pacheco Gago da Câmara, but which was destroyed during a storm in 1875.

It consists of several smaller localities, along with the main village of Água Retorta: Terra Chã, Lomba das Fagundas and Fajã do Calhau.

The Church of Nossa Senhora da Penha de França was erected to replace an older hermitage constructed after the early settlement.
The cliffs of the Fajã do Calhau, separating the twin villages of Faial da Terra and Água Retorta