Altares is a freguesia ("civil parish") in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo on the Portuguese island of Terceira in the archipelago of the Azores.

[3] Owing to the severity of the coast, access to this region was obtained from the port of Biscoitos, some 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east, and from the early settlement along the ravines of Quatro Ribeiras.

The clearing and logging that proceeded along the territory, and from the agrarian structure and morphology of the land, settlement must have progressed from east to west, until the parish of Raminho (which was then known as Folhadais) was last to be settled.

[3] Due to the island's date of colonization and the progress of settlement along the north, the first occupation occurred around 1460, resulting in the foundation by the end of the 15th century.

[7] This was not the case during the period of early colonization, since the forest and tuber vegetation would regulate waterflow, resulting in light continuously flowing streams throughout the year.