| Pilar da Bretanha | |
| Civil Parish (Freguesia) | |
| Official name: Freguesia de Pilar da Bretanha | |
| Name origin: pilar da bretanha Portuguese, compound word for literally, Pillar pertaining to Britain or Pillar of Breton | |
| Country | Portugal |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Region | Azores |
| Group | Central |
| Island | São Miguel |
| Municipality | Ponta Delgada |
| Localities | Casa Telhada, Covas, João Bom, Pilar |
| Center | Lagoa do Pilar |
| - elevation | 222 m (728 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| Highest point | Grota da Cova |
| - location | Sete Cidades Massif, Pilar da Bretanha, Ponta Delgada |
| - elevation | 522.17 m (1,713 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| Lowest point | Sea Level |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean |
| Length | 3.28 km (2 mi), West-East |
| Width | 3.56 km (2 mi), South-North |
| Area | 6.12 km2 (2 sq mi) |
| - land | 5.69 km2 (2 sq mi) |
| - urban | .43 km2 (0 sq mi) |
| Population | 525 (2001) |
| Density | 85.78 / km2 (222 / sq mi) |
| Settlement | fl.1500 |
| - Parish | 10 July 2002 |
| LAU | Freguesia/Junta Freguesia |
| - location | Rua Direito do Pilar, Pilar da Bretanha, Ponta Delgada |
| President Junta | José Botelho Carvalho |
| Timezone | Azores (UTC-1) |
| - summer (DST) | Azores (UTC0) |
| ISO 3166-2 code | PT- |
| Postal Zone | 9545-068 Pilar da Bretanha |
| Area Code & Prefix | (+351) 292 XXX-XXXX |
| Demonym | Micalense; Bretão |
| Patron Saint | Nossa Senhora do Pilar |
| Parish Address | Rua Direito do Pilar, 200 9545-068 Pilar da Bretanha |
| Wikimedia Commons: Livramento (Ponta Delgada) | |
| Statistics from INE (2001); geographic detail from Instituto Geográfico Português (2010) | |
Pilar da Bretanha is a civil parish in the municipality of Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel, in the Azores. It only became an independent parish recently; on July 10, 2002, it was broken-off from the civil parish of Bretanha along with Ajuda da Bretanha.
In a description by Francisco A. Chaves e Melo, the church in Pilar appeared as the center of religious life in this zone, before 1716, an area that encompassed not only present-day Pilar, but also the local community of João Bom. Little is known of the original chapel, which was dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Pilar, except for the writings of Dr. Ernesto do Canto, on his treatises on religious sanctuaries of São Miguel, titled O Preto no Branco. In his work, the author refers to the last testament of Captain João de Sousa de Vasconcelos, resident of Bretanha, who left certain items to the chapel in his will (March 16, 1728). Owing to its state of ruin in the second half of the 19th Century, the chapel was reconstructed, taking on the church's current dimensions.
The chronicler and historian, Father Gaspar Frutuoso identified the region of Bretanha in the early part of the 1870s. As he wrote:
The name remained, although the number of English residents was small in proportion to the Portuguese that settled here. Frutuoso continued to identify a small community of 82 homes (in a region that extended from Nossa Senhora dos Remédios (in the northeast to Mosteiros in the northwest) and whose residents cultivated wheat fields and collected woad plants for export. Frutuoso, in particular, identified local resident Braz Alvres a descendant of one of the earlier settlers who gve his name to one of the peaks in the area (Pico de João Alvres), and who continued to tend his lands in the grotto of João Bom. Similarly, Pico da Mafra (which is located between Bretanha and Mosteiros), which was named for a settler who came from the area of Mafra on the continent.
It was Baron Fernandes, another resident of the grotto of João Bom, who discovered an interesting agricultural technique in order to perpetuate consistent crop yields in this region. In 1550, he came upon the idea of planting the pulse Lupinus albus around the edges of his wheat crops, which had the effect of fortifying the wheat. He did the same for his beans, and discovered the same effects. The practice of using the pulse soon disseminated throughout the island and archipelago. Then, when another settler, Lopo Pessoa, arrived on the island he went one step further; he began to alternate his crops annually, between pulse and wheat, to increase his yields.