This church belonged to the Collegiate Church of São Martinho de Cedofeita, which is known to have existed at least since the first quarter of the 13th century.
Romanesque in style, it was built on the site of another church, founded in the 6th century and linked to the miracle of St. Martin of Tours that led to the conversion of the Suevi. This fact is proved by the inscription on the tympanum of the western doorway and by the two limestone capitals of the chancel arch, which are considered to have been reused from a pre-Romanesque building.
This is a unique monument in Portuguese architecture because it is the only single-nave church with a stone vault still in existence, which explains the sturdy looking buttresses on the church’s exterior.
Attention is drawn to the three doorways, in particular the one on the main façade, with its animal-based decoration and showing stylistic influences from the Coimbra School, and the north door, whose capitals have been built without imposts, similar to the ones that can be found at Porto Cathedral.