Vila de São Sebastião, commonly shortened to São Sebastião ( Portuguese for
Saint Sebastian
Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...
), is a civil parish in the municipality of
Angra do Heroísmo
Angra do Heroísmo (), or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Roma ...
, on the island of
Terceira
Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...
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 2,096, in an area of .Eurostat It is in the southeastern part of the island of
Terceira
Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...
. It contains the localities Arrabalde, Boavista, Cavalas, Canada da Salga, Contendas, Cruz, Maria Vieira, Ribeira Seca de Cima, Ribeira Seca de Baixo, Salgueiros and Vila de São Sebastião.
History
The history of the parish is tied to the early settlement of Terceira. A year after the
Infante
Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...
Henry the Navigator
Princy Henry of Portugal, Duke of Viseu ( Portuguese: ''Infante Dom Henrique''; 4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator (), was a Portuguese prince and a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese ...
signed a charter on 21 March 1450 in Silves to pass the donatorio of the island to the
Flemish
Flemish may refer to:
* Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium
* Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium
*Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium
* Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...
nobleman Jacome de Bruges, the nobleman made for Terceira, where he disembarked along the southeast shoreline of the island, in an area called Pesqueiro dos Meninos. But, as Francisco Ferreira Drummond later indicated, "''that they established themselves a league away, on a vast and appreciable field, that they called Porta Alegre, constructing a small church to the invocation of Santa Ana, the first and only church on the island, where were annexed the chapels of Santo António do Porto Judeu and São Pedro da Ribeirinha...''". Drummond later added that these early settlers moved so far to avoid impending conflicts with Spain, in which Portugal was commonly active.
This areas was the oldest demographic centre by the time that Jácome de Bruges left Porta Alegre in 1456 to launch another settlement in
Praia
Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.Manuel I in a charter dated 23 March 1503 elevated the local community to the status of ''Vila'' (''town'') and seat of the municipality (which included the parishes of Porto Judeu and the locality of Raminho, which for a time pertained to the ecclesiastical parish of Altares). At this time, owing to the Church's patron saint being Saint Sebastian, the new municipality was renamed ''São Sebastião''.
In 1836, Francisco Ferreira Drummond fought against the idea of dissolving the old municipality and merging it into Angra do Heroísmo. On April 1, 1870, São Sebastião became part of Angra do Heroísmo and changed its name to Vila de São Sebastião.
Architecture
Civic
* Fountain of Santa Ana ()
* Lighthouse of Ponta das Contendas (), located on the southeast coast of the parish, the lighthouse is an H-shaped structure used to protect this region as a navigational aid; its plan was initiated in 1882, but nonetheless, its construction only began in 1930, becoming operational on 1 February 1934.
Military
* Fort of Greta (), a 16th century fort that protected the southern coast, working in conjunction with the Fort of Santa Catarina de Mós. For many years it was used to defend the territory from pirate raids, until the end of the 19th century, when it fell into ruin.
Religious
* Chapel of the Misericórdia of São Sebastião (), a chapel and shelter erected by the Misericórdia in the 16th century, it later became the home of the historian Francisco Ferreira Drummond until his death.
* Church of Santa Ana (),
* Church of São Sebastião ()
* Império of the Holy Spirit of São Sebastião ()
Notable citizens
* Francisco Ferreira Drummond (21 January 1796 - 11 September 1858), a Portuguese writer, historian and politician who fought against the extinction of the former municipality of São Sebastião, as well as author of the Annals of the island of Terceira.