The Igreja Matriz is the parish church of Ponte da Barca — a sixteenth-century granite building rebuilt and remodelled over the following two centuries, set on the small square just back from the bridge. Plain on the outside, the interior is a surprise: gilded eighteenth-century altars in carved wood (talha dourada), a coffered painted ceiling, and a set of blue-and-white azulejo panels along the side walls.
The church is normally open in the late afternoon and during Mass. Five minutes inside is enough. If you are in town in late August, the local festival of São Bartolomeu fills the square in front with food stalls, brass bands, and a procession that ends at the church door.