Conceição is a freguesia ("civil parish") in the municipality of Horta in the Portuguese Azores. The population in 2011 was 1,138, in an area of 3.08 km². It is the second smallest parish within the administration of Horta. History The settlement of the area that became known as Nossa Senhora da Conceição was first attributed to the Flemish nobleman Joss van Aard (which was later transliterated into Portuguese as José da Terra, literally Joseph of the Earth/Land), where he made his home, cultivated a small parcel, and planted fruit trees on the edge of Ribeira dos Flamengos (Ravine of the Flemings): "...who settle along a ravine, today named Ribeira da Conceição, in virtue of the chapel to this invocation that he constructed..." Along his holdings was a large promontory that overlooked the Bay of Horta, and extended into the Canal that the Flemish colonists referred to as The Needle (), later to be known in Portuguese as Espalamaca. In 1498, Joss de Utra (the second Captain-donatário of Faial), established his administrative center for the village in the deeper part of the Conceição, thus attracting a settlement wave. A decade after this migration, King Sebastian (30 July 1568) referred to several new communities in the eastern coast of Faial: São Salvador (Matriz), with about 100 to 200 homes; Feteira, Castelo Branco, Praia do Norte, Praia do Almoxarife and Flamengos, with less than 100. In this document, the parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição was established. Later, friar Diogo das Chagas, a noted historian, in his book Espelho Cristalino referred to this parish having 594 inhabitants scattered in 161 buildings. D'Utra, would establish his administration at Rua do Bom Jesus No.16 in Conceição, to house his executive, administration and local jail (referred locally as the Casa da Câmara e Cadeia), literally the House of the Council and Jail. By 5 November 1632, Fernão Gomes Massam, then Corregador dos Açores, reported that the building became incapacitated and its roles were transferred to other buildings within the municipality. Fortifications were constructed in the lower part of the parish during the 17th Century, including the Fort of Alagoa (July 1621) and later the Fort of Bom Jesus (1821), in order to help protect and defend Horta from pirates and privateers that harassed and sacked the communities of the archipelago. Nossa Senhora da Conceição was actually the second village in the Horta basin, after Matriz do