Macedo de Cavaleiros, Bragança, Portugal Genealogy

This is a historical and genealogical guide to the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros.

History
Macedo de Cavaleiros is a municipality in Northeastern Portugal, in the Bragança District.
 * The region was occupied by Celts, then the Romans and finally Arab forces of the Umayyad Caliphate.
 * The territory east of the Tua River from Mirandela to the confluence of the Douro River was Romanized.
 * In the 5th century the region was part of the Roman province of Gallaecia.
 * The Visigoths and Arabs created an uninhabited desert of the region with their invasions.
 * The name Macedo de Cavaleiros comes from the Portuguese term for apple, or maçã, and the knight Martim Gonçalves de Macedo, who saved King John in 1385 from Castilian forces.
 * Around 1722 Macedo was designated as a Quinta, or a small estate by King John V.
 * The municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros was created in 1853 from the municipalities of Chacim and Cortiços.
 * In 1863 the settlement of Macedo was proclaimed a vila or town.
 * Growth during the 20th century was largely the result of immigration from the return of colonial troops or citizens.
 * The town of Macedo de Cavaleiros became a city in 1999.
 * The population of Macedo de Cavaleiros was roughly 15,800 people in 2011.

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

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

Contact a Civil Registration Office
The following is a list of civil registration offices within the municipality.

Conservatória do Registo Civil e Predial de Macedo de Cavaleiros R. Alex. Herculano Pal Justiça 5340-228 Macedo de Cavaleiros PORTUGAL Phone: 278426698 Email: [mailto:crcpcom.macedo-cavaleiros@dgrn.mj.pt crcpcom.macedo-cavaleiros@dgrn.mj.pt]

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 Bragança 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
Ponferrada Spain Family History Center Calle Batalla del Salado, 1 PONFERRADA LEON 24403 PORTUGAL Phone: 34 987 415 298 Email: [mailto:ES_Ponferrada@ldsmail.net ES_Ponferrada@ldsmail.net] Website: Ponferrada Spain Family History Center

Leon Spain Family History Center Máximo Cayón Waldaliso, 12 LEON LEON 24005 PORTUGAL Phone: 34 987215968 Email: [mailto:ES_Leon@ldsmail.net ES_Leon@ldsmail.net] Website: Leon Spain Family History Center