Church of Santa Maria Maior/ Matriz Church

It is thought that this church was built before the time of the Bishop Idácio de Limia (395(?) – after 468) and that it was rebuilt in the twelfth century on the ruins of ancient temples.

Throughout the centuries, the church was restored and enlarged, that’s why it reveals different ages and styles, from the Romanesque to the Renaissance style.

In the sixteenth century, prior Domingos Gonçalves, carried out notable improvements such as the current Renaissance style façade.

During the eighteenth century, the church was restored again, mainly the altar and the tabernacle.

The present look, with the stained glass windows and the new high altar dates from the nineteenth century.

Among the various attractions of the monument, it is worth mentioning the magnificent pipe organ of the seventeenth century, which is out of work nowadays, and the sculpture of the patron saint ‘Maria Maior’, one of the most antique in the country.

Besides, in this church are buried the brothers Rui and Garcia Lopes, Knights of D. Afonso Henriques, who conquered Chaves to the Moors in 1160.

matriz
Sta. Maria Maior

Pictures by Fernando Ribeiro