São Pedro () is a
Portuguese civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
, located in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Vila do Porto
Vila do Porto (; "Port Town") is the single concelho, municipality, the name of the main town and one of the Vila do Porto (parish), civil parishes on the island of Santa Maria Island, Santa Maria, in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of Azor ...
, in the
Portuguese autonomous region of
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
. The population in 2011 was 841, in an area of 18.17 km
2. It consists of the localities Atafona, Alto do Nascente, Bananeiras, Canavais, Chão do João Tomé, Covões, Faneca, Feteiras de Baixo, Feteiras de Cima, Jogo, Outeiro, Paul de Baixo, Paul de Cima, Ribeira do Engenho, Roças, São Pedro, Trevina and Pilar.
History
The first recorded birth in this region, Margarida Afonso, occurred in the locality of Paul.
São Pedro was chronologically the fourth ecclesiastical parish to be created (in 1603), following the pastoral visit of the D.
Jerónimo Teixeira Cabral, the
Bishop of Angra. Its creation was confirmed by
Philip II on 5 March 1611. The first seat of the parish was the Church of São Pedro, in the area of Pedras de São Pedro, which
Gaspar Frutuoso
Gaspar Frutuoso ( 1522 – 1591) was a Portuguese priest, historian and humanist from the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. His major contribution to Portuguese history was his detailed descriptions of the histo ...
referred to as one of four hermitages that existed, near the village, situated ahead of the Church of Santo Antão.
[Gaspar Frutuoso, ''Saudades da Terra'', Livro III. Capítulo VI]
Philip III, by regal decree, on 4 April 1623, accepted the petition of the vicar and inhabitants in São Pedro, authorized a donation for the public works on the hermitage in Pedras de São Pedro, which were declared necessary, after the visit of then-Bishop
Pedro da Costa.
This hermitage had served as the parish seat until 1698, the year that by virtue of its population increase, a new church was opened in the locality of Rosa Alta to serve the local population.
Due to the rich, fertile soils, São Pedro was always an agricultural centre, and basis for their economy. This allowed the continued prosperity of its signeurial holdings, and characterized by large manorhouses () with their own chapels.
Architecture
Civic
* Fountain of São José ()
Religious
* Church of São Pedro ()
* Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Fátima ()
* Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Saúde ()
* Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Monserrate ()
* Hermitage of Nossa Senhora do Pilar ()
* Império of the Holy Spirit of the Miracles ()
References
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Pedro (Vila do Porto)
Freguesias of Vila do Porto