[3] Administratively, the municipality is divided into 4 civil parishes (freguesias):[4] The origin of the name Odivelas is caught up in a peculiar legend that developed from the reign of King Denis.

[5] In the main square of Odivelas on 1415, Philippa of Lancaster blessed her three sons (Edward, Peter and Henry) when they departed on horseback for Restelo, where they would begin their overseas voyage to take the city-state of Ceuta.

[5] It was in the Monastery of São Dinis that was first presented in 1534 Auto da Cananeia, by the author Gil Vicente, which was commissioned by Mother-Superior Violente, sister of Pedro Álvares Cabral.

In Póvoa de Santo Adrião, the painter Pedro Alexandrino, would later contribute to the works in the Sé Cathedral in Lisbon, the Queluz National Palace and the Coach Museum in Belém.

[5] The theft from the main church of Odivelas (on 11 May 1671) was the origin to the monument dedicated to the Senhor Roubado (English: Stolen Lord), and which would give rise to the first political cartoon, that would criticize the activities of the Inquisition.

Another controversy arose in 1723, when the sisters in the monastery were aghast at the assumption that a Brazilian nun could be Jewish, and had infiltrated their order (assuming to save herself from persecution by the Inquisition).

[5] The Amoreira reservoir (Portuguese: Mãe d'Água), albeit a beautiful space, has a capacity for 5,500,000 litres (1,500,000 US gal) which were transported through tunnels to the numerous fountains in Lisbon.

[5] After the religious orders were suppressed, Odivelas began to occupy an important social role, sought after for its open spaces and natural environment; many members of Lisbon's elite built small country estates, or in the beginning of the 20th century, summer homes.

In Pontinha, the command post of the Movimento das Forças Armadas (Armed Forces Movement) was responsible for assisting the establishment of a democratic Portugal on 25 April 1974 (Carnation Revolution).

[5] Simultaneously, the explosion of civil construction projects (due to a lack of affordable homes in Lisbon) occurred in all the parishes of the municipality (except in Famões), which translated into an increase in the resident population.

In this same year, in order to defend local plan for development, a group of citizens established the Movimento Odivelas a Concelho (Odivelan Movement for Municipal Status).

The Gothic convent was very much damaged in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, but the apse has survived, as well as the tomb of King Dinis and his daughter, Princess Maria Afonso.