The buildings would be huddled on the right bank of the Douro, close to the place where the waters of the river mix with those of the sea, developing their inhabitants fishing activity, complemented by incipient agriculture and pastoralism. By the 12th-13th centuries, this village would already have dozens of houses.

The donation letter by which D. Afonso Henriques donates to Roberto and the confreres of the Santa Maria and S. Miguel Arcanjo scene dates from 1 October 1145, everything he had in the S. João da Foz do Douro Chapel. A new donation was subsequently made to Soeiro Mendes Maia who, in turn, donated to the Benedictine monastery of Santo Tirso de Riba d'Ave.

D. Mafalda, daughter of D. Sancho I, confirms the donation in 1211, designating by Couto da Foz the property held by D. Mendo, abbot of that monastery. The couto for the first time defined territorially in the contract as a donation, made by Fernão Pires to Rodrigo (later amended to Diogo) Furjaz and his wife Chamoa Gomes, in which the abbot gave them, in their lives, everything that the monastery had in S. João da Foz and Nevogilde. The couto is then delimited by Gondarém, Portuzelo, some lagoons (then existing along the border of the parish of Aldoar with the municipality of Matosinhos), Monte do Viso, Lordelo and Pedras Ruivas (located between Cantareira and Sobreiras).

Within the countryside, Nevogilde asserts itself as a small village with an eminently rural vocation, while S. João da Foz, thriving, facing the river and the sea.