Santa Cruz da Graciosa on foot: the town tanks, the windmills and the three chapels on Monte da Ajuda

Most visitors see Santa Cruz da Graciosa on the way to somewhere else: the airport is 2 kilometres away, and the Caldeira and Carapacho are a drive off. The town deserves half a day of its own. You can walk to everything in it, and much of what you see was built because Graciosa has always been short of water.

The middle of the main square is water. These are the pauis, two large open tanks with painted walls, and they were the town's supply. Graciosa is the driest island in the Azores. An old description of Santa Cruz says one tank was used for washing and for the kitchen, and the other for the cattle to drink.

The rest of the square grew up around them over the last century and a half. The tall araucarias were planted from the 1880s, on the initiative of Manuel Simas, later the Count of Simas. The bandstand dates from 1945 and replaced one from 1886. The basalt fountain went in in November 1959, and the monument to the island's emigrants in 2000.

A regional decree of 1988 protected the historic centre as an ensemble of public interest. Walk the streets around the square before you go looking for anything in particular.

The Church of Santa Cruz became the island's parish church around 1486, when the settlement was made a vila and the seat of the municipality. It stands at the foot of Monte da Ajuda.

The Museu da Graciosa is at Largo Conde de Simas 17, in a converted warehouse. It shows what the island lived on: a typical island house with its furniture, a wine cellar with its press rooms, farm tools, and the tools of the cooper, the cabinet-maker and the potter. Cannons from the island's old forts stand outside. The museum also has two outlying sections: a former whaling-canoe house and a traditional mill in Fontes.

We could not confirm this year's opening hours or ticket prices from the museum's own site, so ring ahead on +351 295 712 429 if your plans depend on it.

The hill behind the town is a small volcanic cone, 129 metres high, with an almost round crater. Three white chapels stand on it:

• Nossa Senhora da Ajuda, probably from the 16th century and built as a fortified church, with Gothic and Manueline details and basalt corners. It was first enlarged in the 18th century.
• São João, first mentioned in 1557.
• São Salvador, built between 1709 and 1715.

There is a bullring inside the crater. Climb for the view: from the top you look down on the square, the two tanks, the church towers, the harbour and a long stretch of the north coast. Late afternoon, with the light low over the roofs, is the best time.

Graciosa's windmills are the island's postcard: a whitewashed stone tower under a red domed cap, a design with Flemish roots. They were built to grind the grain the island once grew in quantity. You pass them in Santa Cruz, along the roads and above all in Praia, where one street is called Rua dos Moinhos de Vento.

Not all of them are old. The Moinho de Pedra in Praia was built in 1946 to grind grain and has since been turned into holiday apartments, 200 metres from the beach. Other mills in Praia take guests too, so that is where to look if you want to sleep in one. Most mills are private property; photograph them from the road.

The tanks in the square are the most visible part of a system that covers the island. People built tanks, cisterns, washhouses and fountains, and connected them with clay pipes, to hold on to the rain.

The trail named after it, PR01GRA Arquitetura da Água I, shows you the rest. It is a linear route of 11.3 kilometres, graded medium, about three hours. It starts at the Pico da Caldeirinha de Pêro Botelho, a pit about 37 metres deep that is listed as a geosite, crosses Pico Timão (398 metres, the second-highest point on Graciosa) and ends in Praia. Along the way are tanks, cisterns, washhouses, the old pipes, a tidal well that drew on the aquifer, and the tile works that made the clay pieces.

Since the route is one way, leave the car in Praia and take a taxi to the start, or book a taxi back. Check the trail status on the regional trails site before you set off, as routes are sometimes closed for repairs.

• Start at the square with the two tanks, the bandstand and the araucarias.
• Walk to the parish church and the streets behind it.
• Visit the museum if it is open.
• Go up Monte da Ajuda for the chapels and the view.
• On a warm day, finish at the Calheta sea pool, about ten minutes on foot from the square.

Keep the water trail for another morning, and watch for windmills whenever you drive to Praia.

What are the ponds in the square of Santa Cruz da Graciosa? They are the pauis, the town's old water tanks. One was used for washing and cooking, the other for the cattle.

Can you visit a windmill on Graciosa? Most are private or holiday lets. The Museu da Graciosa has a traditional mill in Fontes as one of its sections; ask at the main building.

How long does the Arquitetura da Água trail take? About three hours for 11.3 kilometres, one way from the Caldeirinha de Pêro Botelho to Praia.

Is Monte da Ajuda worth the climb? Yes. The hill is 129 metres high, has three chapels from the 16th to the 18th century, and gives the best view of the town.