Cathedral of Angra do Heroísmo

The Cathedral of Angra do Heroísmo is a Portuguese 16th-century cathedral located in the civil parish of Sé, in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, on the island of Terceira in the archipelago of the Azores.HistoryThe cathedral remotes to the primitive church started by Álvaro Martins Homem in 1461, who dedicated it to the Holy Saviour (São Salvador), which was completed in 1496, that date that the first vicar was nominated. Little is known of this early temple.The bishopric of the islands of the Azores was created on 3 November 1534, by Pope Paul III, designating the Church of São Salvador of Angra (Igreja de São Salvador de Angra) as the religious seat. With the growth of the local population and creation of the Bishopric of Angra, the municipal council formulated a petition to construct a new building for the local community. The first prelate of the new diocese was D. Agostinho Ribeiro who, arriving in 1535, encountered the small, old Church of São Salvador, which was incompatible with its functions as mother-church of the Azores. In 1536, the bishop in accordance with the original council, reminded John III of Portugal of the need to install a diocesenal seat. Yet, the monarch did not address their petition, but rather reorganized the institution, resulting in a new petition in 1557, which stated the financial incapacity of the local residents to support the construction of the new building.