The official date of the foundation of the
city of Porto Alegre is 26 March 1772 by Manuel Sepúlveda, when Freguesia de
São Francisco do Porto dos Casais was created and changed a year later to Nossa
Senhora da Madre de Deus de Porto Alegre. However, the village started in 1752,
when 60 Azorean couples were brought over by the Treaty of Madrid in order to
set up Missions at the Northeast Region of Rio Grande do Sul that was handed
over to the Portuguese Crown in exchange for the Sacramento Colony located on
the margin of the Plata River. Land demarcation took a long time and the
Azoreans settled
