IMAGES OF THE PARISH CHURCHES OF THE MUNICIPAL CENTRES OF THE VALE DO LIMA. 16TH TO 18TH CENTURIES

Abstract

Parish churches are dynamic centers of local community life. In the case of the main churches of the most important towns and villages in a territorial reality, this dynamism is more pronounced due to their urban development, higher population density, and greater economic activity. The main temple of municipal centres generally depends on various authorities: Municipal Chambers, confraternities, individuals and the Church. The construction processes of these spaces and the commissioning of their fixed and mobile equipment were conditioned by the financing from these authorities and obeyed to a complex body of regulations imposed by the Tridentine reform. The aim of this article is to identify the different imagery commission cycles produced between the late 16th and 18th centuries for the collegiate churches of Viana do Castelo and Ponte de Lima and the parish churches of Arcos de Valdevez and Ponte da Barca, urban centres located in the Lima Valley.