Murça Parish Church

For more than 400 years, the church of São Tiago was the only parish church in the current municipality of Murça. Throughout the 17th century or in the early years of the 18th century, the church of São Tiago ceased to be the parish church of the town of Murça, a category to which the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Assunção, located in the middle of the town between the monastery and the courtyard, was elevated. The reasons were its remoteness from the center of the town and, above all, its imminent ruin. The replacement of the building brought with it the replacement of the parish's patron saint, who from then on became Santa Maria Maior. In Correia de Azevedo's opinion, the parish church of Murça is "a temple without any architectural particularity". In fact, there are no particularly important architectural features on the outside. Inside, there are some carved altars, recently repainted and gilded, and a 16th century triptych by Pedro de França. In the imagery, a crucified Christ stands out, with vigorous lines and dramatic expression. A Gothic image also stands out. Regarding its antiquity, we are led to believe that it was built in 1707, if we consider the numerical inscription on the upper part of the main façade to be true. However, this primitive chapel was destroyed by a fire and was later rebuilt and enlarged around 1734, when it became the current parish church. The new parish church was chosen from among the other public chapels that existed in the town at the time: the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Assunção, the chapel of S. Domingos and the chapel that preceded the current Capela da Misericórdia. The private ones, apart from not belonging to the people, were too small, and the monastery of the Benedictine nuns, although large, safe and even artistic, did not meet the requirements of a parish. The choice fell on the chapel of the Assumption. Although it didn't have the desired dimensions and was in need of some work in the near future, it was well situated (in Terreiro, in the center of the town) and was the most spacious of all.