Santa Cruz das Flores (parish)  Santa Cruz das Flores is a civil parish in the municipality of Santa Cruz das Flores, Azores, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 1,725, in an area of 39.68 km². It is the largest population center in the Western Group of the Portuguese Azores, concentrating all governmental and judicial services of the island. In addition, it is the site of the only secondary school, the civil airport, and the centers of health and commerce. The first attempts to settle Flores occurred in the area of Caveira where Willem van der Haegen and his supporters disembarked looking for the mythical "Ilhas Cassitérides". After these colonists abandoned their settlement new pioneers in 1508 and 1510 attempted to succeed in the area of the present Santa Cruz. This settlement was helped by the installation of the Franciscan Convent (São Boaventura), now a museum. Its construction began in 1642, two years after Portugal's Restoration of Independence, under the initiative of local Florense Father Inácio Coelho. The convent was renowned for its Baroque alter-pieces and its ornamented roof (constructed from local "cedros-do-mato", typical of the region). The Franciscans had a profound effect on the local population, installing the annual celebrations for the "Culto do Divino Espírito Santo" ("Cult of the Holy Spirit"), and becoming responsible for the education of the local community. Offering many courses, including Latin, it was their system that became the basis for the reforms in the post-Pomboline national educational system. But, after lasting briefly, those educators abandoned the island and the Franciscans returned to their place in São Boaventura. During the early transition between Franciscan and public systems, Father José António Camões, was important in his functions (between 1797 and 1807) exercising his role as the only grammar teacher on the island. He returned to this place in 1815, where he continued until 1827 in this capacity. Santa Cruz remained the only educational centre in the Western Group of Azorean islands, until the middle of the 19th century; it consolidated its position, forcing the local population to send their children to live in the regional capital in order to obtain an education. The convent, whose chief benefactor was Father Maurício António de Freitas, promoter of the religious foundation Externato da Imaculada Conceição, was also the primary establishment to provide post-secondary education after the fall of the religious orders.