It was the second Captain-major of Faial, Joss d'Utra, son of the Flemish pioneer Josse van Huerter, that originally settled and developed the area of Matriz.
The primitive Church Matriz de São Salvador was completed and inaugurated on June 28, 1514; it compliments the Flemish church of the same name in Bruges and the Sé of Angra do Heroísmo.