Bragança - São Vicente

In Roman times, the region belonged to the province of Gallaecia and was under the administration of Asturica Augusta (now Astorga).

The Romans were followed by the Visigoths and Suebi, who incorporated this region into their empire and introduced wheat cultivation. The first documentary mention of the settlement that developed into today's Bragança was found in the records of the Council of Lugo in 569. Under the administration of King Wamba, the town was recorded as Bregancia in 666.
From 711, the Visigoths were expelled by the Moors. The area was probably sparsely populated when the Reconquista emerged and pushed the Moors southwards. Due to its location on strategic transport routes, Bragança became increasingly important, especially after Portugal gained independence in 1139. King D. Sancho I rebuilt the badly damaged town, refortified it and granted it city rights in 1187. In 1199, D. Sancho I freed the town from the siege by Alfonso IX and established the current Portuguese place name.

In the course of the revolution of 1383 and the attempt by the hereditary Castile to take over Portugal, Bragança fell to its neighbour. It has been Portuguese again since 1401
The origins of the church date back to the 13th century, when it served as a parish church. The apses are probably the oldest parts still in existence. It was rebuilt in the 16th century and remodelled both in the 16th century on the orders of the Bishop and in the 17th century after a landslide.

The church plays a very special role in Portuguese history, as the legendary wedding between the Portuguese king Dom Pedro (1357 - 1367) and the lady-in-waiting Inês de Castro. is said to have taken place here in 1352.

Dom Pedro's father, Alfonso IV, did not like this union at all. In 1355, when Crown Prince Dom Pedro was out hunting, men entered the house where Inês lived on the king's orders and beheaded her in the presence of her children.