Igreja Matriz de Caminha

Late-Gothic parish church with a famously elaborate Mudéjar wooden ceiling

Caminha's parish church sits at the eastern edge of the old town, a fortified-looking pile of granite that was begun in 1488 and dragged on through the next century. From outside it is plain to the point of grim — buttressed walls, a low square tower, very little decoration. The doorway facing the river is the exception: a Renaissance portal with carved saints and grotesques, well worth a look.

The interior is the surprise. The wooden ceiling of the nave is a coffered Mudéjar work in chestnut, dense with geometric panels and lozenges, painted and gilded. Side chapels hold sixteenth-century altarpieces and a fine baroque organ. Entry is usually free during morning hours; if the door is locked, the sacristan lives nearby and can sometimes be found.

things to do sight architecture
A story
The carved wooden ceiling of the nave was made in the early sixteenth century by craftsmen working in the Mudéjar tradition — Muslim artisans in Christian Iberia. It is one of the few surviving examples of this Andalusian carpentry technique in northern Portugal. The story is that Caminha could afford it because the port was, briefly, one of the wealthiest on the Atlantic coast.