Trofa, Porto, Portugal Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the municipality of Trofa.

History

 * Trofa is a municipality in the District of Porto in Portugal.
 * Trofa means frontier in Arab, and was mentioned in the time of the Roman Empire.
 * Trofa is divided into 5 parishes, but in the beginning of the municipality it had 8 parishes.
 * The population of Trofa is roughly 39,000 people.

Online Records
After 100 years, all civil registration records are sent to the municipality's district office.

To view online civil registration records, visit Porto Civil Registration.

Contact a Civil Registration Office
There are no known civil registration offices within the municipality of Trofa. Contact a civil registration office in a nearby municipality to find out if they have the records for Trofa.

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Online Records
In 1910, the Portuguese government transferred all birth, marriage, and death records from all the country's parishes to the district offices. These records are now in either District or National archives. Many of these records have been digitized and can be viewed at the District Archive's website or on FamilySearch.

To view online records, visit Porto Church Records.

Contact a Parish
If you are seeking church records created more recently than 1910, it is possible to obtain them by writing to the parish where the record was created. Writing to a parish is not always a reliable way to obtain information, because officials may or may not respond.

Conferência Episcopal Portuguesa lists websites for the 20 Dioceses of Portugal. Once on the Diocesan website, use the listing of parishes (paróquias) to locate contact information for the parish in question.

Communicate your request in Portuguese whenever possible. For writing a letter or email in Portuguese, use the translated questions and phrases in this Portuguese Letter-writing Guide.

Cemeteries
Cemeteries did not become popular in Portugal until the late nineteenth century. Prior to this, individuals were buried in their parish church cemetery, and their bones were later removed to an unmarked burial place.

Family History Centers
Povoa do Varzim Portugal Family History Center Rua Bocal da Gândara 700 POVOA DE VARZIM 4490-557 PORTUGAL Phone: +351 351-252626072 Email: [mailto:PT_PovoaDoVarzim@familyhistorymail.org PT_PovoaDoVarzim@familyhistorymail.org] Website: Povoa do Varzim Portugal Family History Center