Towns and Villages

Famalicão, which was founded in the thirteenth century by the king D. Afonso III, is believed to have existed even before the foundation of the Portuguese nationality as the regional seat of the Terras de Vermoim.

Its great development did not, however, take place until the nineteenth century, when various workshops and factories were set up in the municipality.

This same period also witnessed the appearance of a number of small palaces and luxurious buildings financed by the capital of emigrants who had lived in Brazil.

Camilo Castelo Branco, one of the most important figures in nineteenth-century Portuguese literature, lived in the village of São Miguel de Seide in the surrounding area and his house has recently been converted into a museum.