Records from 815, as suggested by J. Augusto Vieira, already indicated that a convent existed on the site during the era of Ramiro II of León and D. Paterna.

Afonso Henriques also donated property and chattel that he owned in Melgaço (most notably in the area of Chaviães), which included the lands of Senhora da Orada, but which were later occupied by King Sancho in 1199.

The clergy at the time could afford to be generous, records from 1320 showed that the convent produced 400 pounds from lands rents.

[1] The site was also the stage for a later royal order from King John V of Portugal, who summoned all the governors to the plaza to show their respect to the privileges of the grounds.

[1] Yet, in 1777, the convent complained to the Captain-Major of Valadares that generals and governors of the local fortifications used carts of parishioners for public works projects in the fortresses.

[1] The original 1910 decree was intended to classify the churchyard as a National Monument (Portuguese: Monumento Nacional), but was elaborated in 1977 to include the Church, its contents and any of the remnants of the ancient convent.

[1] The abbot travelled to France (1955) to visit former parishioners, and to collect donations to purchase bells for the convent, conclude the public works on the parochial residence and build a tower to the Chapel of Adedele.

[1] The first organized interventions made on the church and remnants of the convent began with the 1958 restoration of the roof and consolidation of the walls, completed by the DGEMN Direcção-Geral dos Edifícios e Monumentos Nacionais (General-Directorate for Buildings and National Monuments) in 1958.

[1] Minor replacements of doors and windows throughout the church progressed in the intervening years, along with other projects, culminating in the drainage of the posterior facade in 1977.

[1] The Church of Fiães is situated in an isolated rural environment, along the flanks of the Serra da Peneda, at about 700 metres above sea level.

The ample churchyard includes a cross, and is inserted within a small agricultural tract encircled by oak and chestnut trees.

The southern apse chapel dominates the opposite facade to the entrance, with a supported chancel with windows and cornice similar to those along the nave.