With a human presence archaeologically documented since the Palaeolithic Prehistory, with chronological records dating back some 35,000 years, this territory experienced its “Golden Age” during the Neolithic Period, some 7,000 years ago, evidenced by the highest concentration of megalithic monuments on the Iberian Peninsula, presumably the oldest menhirs in Western Europe. Later, it received exploratory visits from the Phoenicians and Greeks and hosted important Roman settlements, mainly dedicated to the production and export of fish preserves. In the Middle Ages, it became a territory of intercultural coexistence between Arabs, Mozarabs, Jews and Christians. 

Its settlements are ancient! The village of Budens is first mentioned in 1323, and the villages of Figueira and Raposeira in 1374. In 1443, Prince Henry the Navigator began the construction of his fortified town of Sagres, the place where he planned pioneering campaigns of navigation and discovery beyond the seas and where he would die on 13 November 1460. The village of Vale de Boi is first mentioned in 1573 and the village of Burgau in 1600. Vila do Bispo gained its administrative autonomy through a Royal Charter granted by King Afonso VI, becoming a municipality on 26 August 1662 ...