Praça Velha formerly known as Praça (Square), was the primitive civic center and the market square

Market square

The market square is a feature of many European and colonial towns. It is an open area where market stalls are traditionally set out for trading, commonly on one particular day of the week known as market day....

 of the city of Póvoa de Varzim

Póvoa de Varzim

Póvoa de Varzim is a Portuguese city in the Norte Region and sub-region of Greater Porto, with a 2011 estimated population of 63,364. According to the 2001 census, there were 63,470 inhabitants with 42,396 living in the city proper. The urban area expanded, southwards, to Vila do Conde, and there...

 in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. It is located in Bairro da Matriz

Bairro da Matriz

Bairro da Matriz is the historical neighourhood of the Portuguese city of Póvoa de Varzim and part of the Matriz/Mariadeira district....

 historic district and is surrounded by the main church of Póvoa de Varzim (Igreja Matriz), the primitive Town Hall and the house of a notable 17th century Póvoa de Varzim seafarer.

Since the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 the Praça has been used for markets and fairs, to such an extent that the term "Praça" is often used for "market" in the local parlance. Praça Velha was the urban core of the town in the 16th century.

14th century: the town's new urban core

In 1308, King Denis

Denis of Portugal

Dinis , called the Farmer King , was the sixth King of Portugal and the Algarve. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile and grandson of king Alfonso X of Castile , Dinis succeeded his father in 1279.-Biography:As heir to the throne, Infante Dinis was...

 wrote a charter in which he gave his royal land in Varzim to 54 local families. The inhabitants would have to create a "Póvoa", a new settlement in Varzim, bordered to the south by the primitive Roman and Early Medieval core of the Town of Varzim, which was controlled by knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s under a feudal structure. King Denis also encouraged the creation of free fairs all around the kingdom. In time, the Praça became the site of the free fair and the location for the public butchery. It was a wide area bordered by the Town Hall (from the 15th century) and the Madre Deus Chapel (prior to 1521).

The early Town Hall governed the municipality from the Praça from the first half of the 16th century and probably much earlier. The building was probably built in the 15th century and originally had an arcade structure.

16th century: the impact of the Age of Discovery

In the 16th century, single storey houses dominated the town's landscape, but there are indications of multiple floored habitations, with curved lintels and sculpted exterior facades. This more advanced architecture is associated with rich gentlemen who had made their fortunes through seafaring. These included Amador Alvares, explorer of the route to India, and navigators Pedro Fernandes, Diogo Pyz de São Pedro, Lourenço Dias and others. This bourgeoisie was the owner of most of the real estate around the Square which the population saw as the urban area.

The Madre Deus Chapel was built, possibly before 1521, by nobleman João Gomes Gaio, father of the knight João Martins Gaio, related with the maritime trade of Vila do Conde. He lived in Póvoa civic center because there he could easily recruit men. This noble and influential family provided great benefits to Póvoa during that period. Madre Deus Chapel was an important building, popular amongst the common people due to its central location in the town and even more popular than the first church, the ancient Senhora de Varzim Church, located in Dores Square

Largo das Dores

thumb|Dores Square plate.thumb|Dores Square.Largo das Dores or Dores Square is a square in Póvoa de Varzim city center in Portugal. Part of the old town of Póvoa de Varzim, this area is listed by City Hall as heritage site...

 in the old town.

Due to its central location and position of safety, unlike the main church, the ordinary judge of the town, councilmen and people asked the archbishop of Braga in 1544 for "a license to place the Holly Sacrament in the sacrarium". This was granted and lead to the establishment of the Corpus Christi Procession

Corpus Christi (feast)

Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...

 in the town. Since 1591, the clergymen of the parishes of Beiriz

Beiriz

Beiriz is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim. In the census of 2001, it had a population of 3,229 inhabitants and a total area of 4.31 km².Beiriz is known for its Tapetes de Beiriz .-History:...

, Amorim

Amorim

Amorim is a Portuguese surname. A habitational name from any of the various places named Amorim, originally Amorini, from the name of the estate owner.It may refer to:- People :*Ana Amorim, Brazilian handball player...

, Terroso

Terroso

Terroso is a Portuguese parish located in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim. In the census of 2001, it had a population of 2,472 inhabitants and a total area of 4.63 km²....

 and Estela

Estela

Estela is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim. In the census of 2001, it had a population of 2,596 inhabitants and a total area of 11.73 km²....

 were obliged to participate in this. Their number was augmented from 1625 by priests from Laundos

Laundos

Laundos or Laúndos is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim. In the census of 2001, it had a population of 2,131 inhabitants and a total area of 9.69 km²....

, Navais

Navais

Navais is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim. In the census of 2001, it had a population of 1,683 inhabitants and a total area of 4.23 km².-History:...

 and Argivai

Argivai

Argivai is a Portuguese parish located in the city of Póvoa de Varzim. In the census of 2001, it had a population of 2,187 inhabitants and a total area of 2.32 km²....

, causing protests by Vila do Conde in 1637 concerning the growing importance that Póvoa was getting in the region.

Those surrounding parishes were integrated by the civil administration into the Municipality of Póvoa de Varzim after the liberal reforms of 1836. João Martins Gaio and his wife, Maria Afonso, were the chapel administrators. They and their son, Jorge Martins Gaio, were authorized to be buried in the chapel "with the coat of arms carved in rock, by authorization of the archbishop of Braga venerated Sir Barthelomeu dos Martires, given during the visit to the Town of Esposende in January 13th, 1560."

The area between the Madre Deus Chapel and the Town Hall, referred to as a "square of this town" in 1596, was the true civic center, coming close to the role that a square played in a medieval city, where a cathedral or church dominated, the market took place and where the most important buildings of the city where built. The building of the Town Hall supplied the square with arches that were used as protection from the sun or rain, in this way it was the hub of public life. The local prison was also located on the Town Hall's ground floor.

Several streets reached the Praça, these linked the urban core with the suburbs and were used by travelers from neighboring cities and towns, such as Barcelos

Barcelos

Barcelos Municipality is located in Braga District, in the north of Portugal. It has a total population of 123,831 and an area of 378.9 km². With 89 parishes, it is the municipality with the highest number of parishes in the country, as well as the city of Barcelos...

, Braga

Braga

Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...

, Guimarães

Guimarães

Guimarães Municipality is located in northwestern Portugal in the province of Minho and in the Braga District. It contains the city of Guimarães.The present Mayor is António Magalhães Silva, elected by the Socialist Party.-Parishes:-Economy:...

, and Vila do Conde. Thus, with this conjugation of religious, administrative and commercial factors the Praça was a busy place.

18th century developments

The Town Hall was rebuilt in 1713, when the Praça still had a wide square. Lieutenant Francisco Felix da Veiga Leal said in 1758 "Póvoa de Varzim has a very good town hall with the town's coat of arms painted on the ceiling of the hearing room. These same coat of arms are used in its senate standard ... and on the outside wall the Royal coat of arms are located. And this house is formed over six arches with its casing, and below it the bars of the two prison cells."

On February 18, 1743, the building of the new First Church of Póvoa de Varzim near the town hall was started, revealing the alliance between the Povoan Town Hall and the Archdiocese of Braga. This was useful in the territorial disputes that the town had with the the House of Bragança, specifically its Town of Barcelos

Barcelos

Barcelos Municipality is located in Braga District, in the north of Portugal. It has a total population of 123,831 and an area of 378.9 km². With 89 parishes, it is the municipality with the highest number of parishes in the country, as well as the city of Barcelos...

. The Town Hall was part of the First Church Commission and developed efforts for the maintenance and enlargement of the old first church, the Church of Santa Maria de Varzim, as well as for the construction of the new one. It enjoyed special privileges granted by the Braga archbishops: the judge of the Town Hall was also judge of the church. In 1610, these privileges had already become entrenched in tradition and were respected, even if they were against the orders (Capítulos) emanating from the archdiocese.

The new church opened to the public on January 6, 1757. It was of a large size and high artistic value for such a small, but growing, community. With the new church, the parochial community expanded to include nearby parishes such as Terroso and Amorim, where there were only very small chapels. After the building of the new church, the Praça became quadrangular in shape and was diminished in size, not only because of the church but also due to other buildings that had been constructed.

The 1791 Royal Provision and decline

By the end of the 18th century, it was apparent that the Town Hall, which was also a judiciary court and a prison, was too small for the expanding town. With the Royal Provision, made by Queen Mary I in 1791, the Praça Nova

Praça do Almada

thumb|The Square's plate. The Square name honors an 18th century politician that prompted Póvoa de Varzim's urban development in the late 1700s.Praça do Almada is the civic center of the city of Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal, and is located in Póvoa de Varzim City Center...

(the "New Square") was created with a larger town hall. The old town hall was given new functions and its style was modified with time. By the late 19th century, the Madre Deus chapel was demolished for street enlargement.

The importance of the Praça as the civic, economic and political center started to be broken down after the 1791 Royal Provision which restructured the urban arrangement of Póvoa de Varzim and relocated the municipal powers to the new square.

Listed heritage

• Main Church of Póvoa de Varzim
• Old Town Hall
• House of António Cardia (sixteen century seafarer)
• São Sebastião House and Chapel