Matriz (Ribeira Grande)

Matriz is a parish in the district of Ribeira Grande in the Azores. The population in 2011 was 3,968, in an area of 10.84 km². It is situated on the north coast of the island. Together with the parish Conceição, it forms the town Ribeira Grande.

References

Matriz (Horta)

Matriz is a civil parish in the municipality of Horta, in the Portuguese Azores, which is part of the urbanized core of the city of Horta. The population in 2011 was 2,562, in an area of 1.81 km². It is the smallest and most populous parish on the island.

History

It was the second Captain-major of Faial, Joss d'Utra, son of the Flemish pioneer Josse van Huerter, that originally settled and developed the area of Matriz. The religious parish, Matriz do Santissimo Salvador, was created from successive growth, and the area become integrated into the larger village of Horta, and municipal seat, in 1498 by the royal decree of King Manuel I of Portugal.

The primitive Church Matriz de São Salvador was completed and inaugurated on June 28, 1514; it compliments the Flemish church of the same name in Bruges and the Sé of Angra do Heroísmo. It was successively sacked in 1589, then 1597, by English privateers.

In 1643, Diogo das Chagas identified that the area of the Matriz had about 1,985 inhabitants in 449 homes. It was also a centre of the faith community during the period of exploration; the home to several churches and religious sanctuaries, that include: the Jesuit Church and Convent, the Church of Misericórdia (Mercy), the Convent of São João, the Convent of Nossa Senhora da Glória, the Convento de Santo António, the Império dos Nobres (in homage to the 1672 volcanic eruption) and the old Clock Tower (former tower of another destroyed church).