Settlements in the Mount of Santa Luzia date back to the Iron age, extending into the Roman occupation the area.

In the 15th century, it was on the trade routes between the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic, when textiles, fruits, wood and iron were headed south while salt and agricultural products were northbound.

[4] However, the port's importance grew substantially from the 16th century, during the age of discoveries, when the sugar trade from Brazil emerges in Viana.

[11] In 1678, a chapel was built to the Holy Sepulchre, which by 1744 had originated a Marian devotion to Nossa Senhora da Agonia (Our Lady of Agony), a large worship figure in Viana, especially among fishermen.

[7] Viana do Castelo had coastal defenses on its western side, at the mouth of the river since the reign of Alfonso III in the 13th century.

In the 16th century, defenses were again boosted, to protect the prosperous city, with the start of the construction of Fort Santiago da Barra.

The queen, in order to reward the loyalty of its citizens, who did not surrender to the Count of Antas, elevated the town to the status of city on 20 January 1848, renaming the settlement with its current name.

During the construction process, the monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine was demolished to make way for the project and much of its stonework was repurposed for viaducts and the station building.

On June 4, 1944, the Estaleiros Nacionais de Viana do Castelo (ENVC) were founded as part of a government program to modernize the country's fishing fleet.

[15] Administratively, the municipality is divided into 27 civil parishes (freguesias):[21] Viana do Castelo has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb; Thornthwaite: ArB'2a')[22] with substantial oceanic influences characterized by warm, relatively dry summers and mild, rainy winters.

[27] Since the early 1990s the city started a wide urban renewal plan, pioneering the "Polis program", and including enlarging the pedestrian areas, building new modern architecture and creating new public spaces and parks.

Architects such as Siza Vieira, Eduardo Souto de Moura and Fernando Távora have participated in the construction of a modern, well preserved and lively city center.

These range from processions and ethnographic parades to performances featuring music, traditional dances, and large figures such as "cabeçudos" and "gigantones".

[28] Since 1985 the Teatro Sá de Miranda has been owned by the municipality, which has restored it to its former glory as one of the leading theatres in the provinces of Portugal.