Cantanhede, Coimbra, Portugal Genealogy

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

History

 * Cantanhede is a city and municipality in the Coimbra district, in the Centro Region, Portugal.
 * The first historical reference dates back to 1087, the day Sisnando Davides, governor of Coimbra, provided the fortification for the village.
 * The name Cantanhede comes from the Celtic cant, which means "great stone" and refers to the great quaries of the region.
 * It was the original Cantonieti that was mentioned in the documentation of the centuries 11th, 12th, and 13th.
 * Other spellings are Cantoniedi, Cantonidi and Cantonetu.
 * A foral was granted in 1514 by the King Manuel I of Portugal.
 * There are 24 parishes in this municipality.
 * The population of Cantanhede is roughly 36,600 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 Coimbra Civil Registration.

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

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 Coimbra 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
Coimbra Portugal Family History Center Rua Penedo da Saudade 20 COIMBRA 3000-331 PORTUGAL Phone: +351 351-39-718437 Email: [mailto:PT_Coimbra@familyhistorymail.org PT_Coimbra@familyhistorymail.org] Website: Coimbra Portugal Family History Center