Alcobaça, Bahia, Brazil Genealogy

Guide to Municipality of Alcobaça ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, church records, parish registers, and civil registration.

History
The place where Alcobaça is located today belonged to a sesmaria (land donated by the government, in Colonia Brasil, for colonization purposes) managed by Captain  Francisco Martins Pereira from 1697. Located in an area with a high incidence of "savage" indigenous people. , the old Vila de Alcobaça offered little security for its residents. On the other hand, however, their lands were fertile and the Itanhém River provided access to the "sertão" (a region far from the coast). Perhaps because of the fertility of the land, the region began to be occupied by the first white men from Vila de Caravelas, around 1747. [6] At that time, according to tradition, the Portuguese  Antonio Gomes Pereira and  Antonio Mendes, residents of the neighboring city of Caravelas, and coming from the medieval city of Alcobaça, in Portugal, set up camp on the banks of the Itanhém River with their respective families. In a short time, a village appeared there with the name of Arraial de Itanhém.

The Portuguese city of Alcobaça, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (which is the seat of the municipality (municipality) of the same name), is located in the district of Leiria, in the Alta-Estremadura sub-region, about 100 km from Lisbon. It currently has approximately 6,000 inhabitants. It is famous for housing the Monastery of Santa Maria, founded in 1178, where the tombs of King D. Pedro I (1320-1367) and the queen d. Inês de Castro (1325?-1355), who were the protagonists of a legendary love story in the 14th century.

The municipality has its origins in a village created on November 12, 1772, by the Ouvidor José Xavier Machado Monteiro in the place called Arraial de Itanhém, located on the banks of the River Itanhém, south of the Captaincy of Porto Seguro.

Elevated to the category of a village with the name of Alcobaça, by royal charter of March 3, 1755, dismembered from Caravelas and Prado. Parish was created with the name of Alcobaça, by the charter of October 20, 1795. Elevated to the status of a city with the name of Alcobaça, on July 20, 1896.

Local Offices
Ofício de registro civil das pessoas naturais Av. Gov. César Borges, 2.500 Farol Alcobaça Alcobaça 45990-000 Bahia Telephone: (0xx73) 3293-2558 Fax: (0xx73) 3293-2558 Email: tmdfreitas@tjba.jus.br

Local Churches
Paróquia de São Bernardo Praça Pe. José Porfirio, s/n Centro 45910-000 Telephone: (73) 3293-2192

Localities
Iansã Beach, Coqueiro Beach, Farol Beach, Zeloris Beach