Like the Bom Jesus Church, this square was designed by Carlos Amarante. Here the primitive church existed, built at the initiative of the Archbishop of Braga, D. Rodrigo de Moura Teles, and completed in 1725. It was an ellipsoidal building, topped by a lacy plateau, with eight pillars in the buttress.However, possibly affected by the great earthquake of 1755, in 1780 it was found that the pressure of the vault had displaced the walls, being necessary to support them with tree trunks. The construction project for the current temple dates from that period.

In the place where the tower of this primitive church was located, on a boulder, there is currently the Statue of São Longuinho. On the north side of the terreiro was a statue of Moses, now moved to a boulder next to a small lake in the Parque do Bom Jesus. The bottom of the square is ornamented by the Fonte do Pelicano, completed in 1819, the work of the Jerónimo António da Silva construction site.