Vila de São Sebastião, commonly shortened to São Sebastião (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

), 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, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 53,311 inhabitants in an area of approximately . It is the location ...

in the

archipelago of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

. The population in 2011 was 2,096, in an area of .Eurostat
It is in the southeastern part of the island of

. 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 t ...

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

signed a charter on 21 March 1450 in

Silves Silves may refer to : Europe * Silves, Portugal, municipality and former bishopric in Algarve, southern Portugal ** Silves (parish), a civil parish in the municipality of Silves ** Castle of Silves, a medieval castle in civil parish of Silves ...

to pass the donatorio of the island to the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

nobleman

Jacome de Bruges Jacome or Jácome is a Portuguese and Spanish surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jácome de Bruges (born 1418), Flemish businessman *Jacome Gonsalves (1676–1742), Sri Lankan priest and missionary * Jácome Ratton (173 ...

, 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 language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

. By this time a second place, Ribeira de Frei João was already inhabited by a nascent community. The discovery of a marble slab with inscriptions by Drummond and local inhabitants in 1780 imply that the parochial church of São Sebastião was established in 1480. Although the early church of Sant'Ana da Portalegre das Quatro Ribeiras was constructed some time after early settlement, the construction of a temple in the locality of Ribeira de Frei João was almost immediate. King

Manuel I Manuel I may refer to: *Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180) *Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263) *Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was ...

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 ( pt, Fontanário Armoreado do Rossio/Fonte de Santa Ana) *

Lighthouse of Ponta das Contendas The Ponta das Contendas Lighthouse ( pt, Farol da Ponta das Contendas) is lighthouse located along the promontory of Contendas, in the civil parish of São Sebastião, municipality of Angra do Heroísmo on the island of Terceira, in the Portugues ...

( pt, Farol de Ponta das Contendas), located on the southeast coast of the parish, the lighthouse is a "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 ( pt, Forte de 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 ( pt, Capela da Misericórdia de São Sebastião e Casa de Francisco Ferreira Drumond), a chapel and shelter erected by the Misericórdia in the 16th century, it later became the home of the historian

Francisco Ferreira Drummond Francisco Ferreira Drummond (21 January 1796 – 9 November 1858) was a historian, Paleography, palaeograph, musician and politician from a locality of Vila de São Sebastião on the island of Terceira, the Portuguese Azores. He was a historic pub ...

until his death. * Church of Santa Ana ( pt, Capela de Santa Ana/Ermida de Santa Ana/Igreja de Santa Ana), * Church of São Sebastião ( pt, Igreja Paroquial de São Sebastião/Igreja de São Sebastião) * Império of the Holy Spirit of São Sebastião ( pt, Império do Espírito Santo de São Sebastião)

Notable citizens

(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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vila de Sao Sebastiao Freguesias of Angra do Heroísmo