Pilar da Bretanha is a civil parish in the municipality of Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. It was de-annexed from the historical parish of Bretanha on 10 July 2002, along with Ajuda da Bretanha. The population in 2011 was 624, in an area of . It contains the localities Casa Telhada, Covas, João Bom and Pilar. History There are controversies as to the origins of this parish, which was inhabited between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The first colonists settled along the coast, from João Bom to Remédios. At one time these small communities were disparagingly referred to as the those places in the north by settlers in Ponta Delgada. In a description by Francisco A. Chaves e Melo, the church in Pilar appeared as the center of religious life in this zone, before 1716, an area that encompassed not only present-day Pilar, but also João Bom. Little is known of the original chapel, which was dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Pilar (Our Lady of the Pillar), except for the writings of Dr. Ernesto do Canto, on his treatises on religious sanctuaries of São Miguel, titled O Preto no Branco. In his work, the author refers to the last testament of Captain João de Sousa de Vasconcelos, resident of Bretanha, who left certain items to the chapel in his will (16 March 1728). Owing to its state (practical ruins), during the second half of the 19th century, the chapel was reconstructed, taking on the church's current dimensions. The chronicler and historian, Father Gaspar Frutuoso identified the region of Bretanha in the early part of the 1870s . As he wrote: They refer to this place as Bretanha [which means "pertaining to Britain"]...because the land is high and rugged, and they called the older residents High Bretons; others say that, in the past, on those lands their lived and worked a Britain. Many of these early settlers were referred to as former inhabitants of Great Britain or Brittany, and the region continued to be referred to as Bretanha throughout the centuries (many from former Templar settlements). The name stuck, even as the number of English residents dwindled in proportion to the native Portuguese that settled the lands increased. A study on the linguistic influences of Bretanha, by Maria Clara Rolão Bernardo, reaffirmed this