Águas Santas is a Portuguese parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 located in the municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 of Maia

Maia

Maia is a female given name of Greek origin. Together with other similar words, it may refer to:- Mythology :* Maia , the eldest of the Pleiades in Greek mythology, also identified with an Ancient Italic goddess of spring and the most beautiful....

. It has 31,000 inhabitants and an area of 7,86 square kilometers, making it one of the most densely populated towns in the Porto District

Porto District

The District of Porto , sometimes Oporto in English, is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country...

. It is located about 3.5 kilometers north of the city of Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

, near river Leça.

History

The first references to Águas Santas are found in a document dating from the year 1120, where Pope Callixtus II

Pope Callixtus II

Pope Calixtus II , born Guy de Vienne, the fourth son of William I, Count of Burgundy , was elected Pope on February 1, 1119, after the death of Pope Gelasius II . His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, which he was able to settle through the Concordat of Worms...

 mentions the monastery of Aquis Sanctis.

See also

• Associação Atlética de Águas Santas - the local professional handball team
• Cerealis
  Cerealis
  Cerealis is a Portuguese food producer and the biggest milling company in Portugal, headquartered in Maia, and founded in 1919 as a cereal processing company...
  
  - a Portuguese food producer headquartered in Águas Santas