São João (Lajes do Pico) 2.46

São João, named for John the Baptist (in Portuguese) is a civil parish in the municipality of Lajes do Pico in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. It is the only civil parish in the municipality with a frontier on the summit of Pico (2,351 meters). The population in 2011 was 423, in an area of 32.94 km².HistoryOral tradition holds that São João was part of a large southern parish of São Mateus, in the primitive locality of Arruda, some 12km from the centre of Lajes. The name, Arruda came from a medicinal herb that prospered in the landscape of the parish, a region known for extensive arable agricultural parcels dedicated to cereal production (particularly wheat). At the time of settlement, the parochial church held an extensive 20 alqueires of land in cultivation, as well receiving an annual tithe equal to 15 alqueires. Even today the lands around Areia between São Mateus and São João were considered the most productive of this region. Yet, the residents of this area did not only dedicate to cereal production, instead dividing themselves between the fishery and raising of cattle and sheep for wool.Owing to the growth in population, São Mateus began to be divided into smaller territories, resulting in the dismemberment of Arruda, that would give origin to São João Baptista. Around 1619 a small hermitage was erected by Domingos Marques and his wife, Silveira do Macedo, dedicated to this patron, whose image appeared on the beach. The small hermitage was expanded and elevated to the status of parochia (ecclesiastical parish) possibly after 1700, from affirmations of Ms. Silveira de Macedo. It is unclear when the religious parish was eventually elevated to civil parish, owing to the rarity of records.