of the finances of Santa Casa, sending in an administrator/auditor from the comarca of Viana do Castelo. It was only in 1807 when the review was officially begun into the accounts of the Misericórdia. The 1787 auditor, Bento Manuel Machado de Araújo, explained that he had taken 1200$000 from the benefactor, but had made all the necessary provisions. Regardless, the analysis by auditors between 1774 and 1804 revealed a debit of 1789$869 réis, but that the Misericórdia had not received 11553$949 in outstanding payments. This analysis only helped to confirm the decision of the Administrator General of the district of Viana do Castelo in 1838: a majority of the Misericórdias were badly administrated, resulting in the loss of funds, that was treated by their administration with little zeal. In 1839, the same administrator sent a financial commissioner to reform the bureaucracy, examine the errors and clean up the sloppiness in the Misericórdia of Valadares. In 1848, a tender was issued to many of the masons for the remodelling of the exterior walls of the church. In 1855, the municipality of Valadares was extinguished. By the last quarter of the 19th century, the church continued to be remodelled in some form, which included the construction of the valance of the triumphal arch and the lateral retables of the chancel were constructed. On 3 August 1931, the administrative table of the Misericórdia begins to be managed by an administrative commission. But, by 28 February 1955, this group realized its last session. Architecture The church is located in the centre of the town of Valadares, in a space that was used traditionally for fair, and whose vendors paid a fee to occupy space. It is found in an elevated churchyard, encircled by wall and bunkets of rock, with the access made by a lateral staircase and railing crowned by pinnacles topped with spheres. The church plan is composed of a rectangular nave and chancel, bell-tower and sacristy, as well as polygonal annex: each articulated space is topped by tiled roof. Although the facades are plastered and whitewashed, the foundations, doorways and windows are projected cornices, with wedge pilasters on the corners, while the building is surmounted by pinnacles and crosses on most gables. The principal facade, with vibrant entablature and metopes, is overlaid by a triangular pediment, with the tympanum hosting an image of Nossa Senhora da Misericórdia (OurLady of Mercy). An arched portal-arched, based on Tuscan capitals, is framed by a space defined by Tuscan pilasters, supporting a curved pediment over a metope entablature. On either side of this symmetrical facade are two rectangular windows. The four-storey bell-tower that includes: a stone clock, four-exposure belfry, a stone face with cornices and a cupola with four corner and one central pinnacles. The north façade has two rectangular windows at the nave and chancel, while two windows and door on the southern façade. The frontispiece follows the model of the Church of São Vitor (Braga), although simplified, that introduces some modifications, such as the arch on the portico. It has several structural affinities with the front facade and interior of the Church of the Misericórdia in Monção. Much like in the churches of Monção and Ponte de Lima, this church has squared-off vaulted ceilings over cornices that are supported by corbels, and lateral niches with Neoclassical gilded retables, hiding much of its structure. The coat-of-arms of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia are located on the roof of the sub-choir, choir stalls and the confessionaries in the chancel. Paintings on the roof of the nave, are also similar to those in Monção, although the content