The Diocese will be ceding historic books of the deceased from the parish of Lavadores and from that of the collegiate church on the occasion of the Bicentenary exhibition.
The Diocese of Tui-Vigo will be lending these historical books of the deceased for the exhibition "Reconquest of Vigo: 1809-2009", to be held in the Castrelos Museum from the 6th to the 31st of March, 2009.
These books include long lists of the deceased during the dates of the Reconquest and explain the circumstances under which they fell as victims of the French occupation troops.
This material has never been published and will be exposed to the public for the first time. A team of documentary makers researched all the books of the deceased who passed away between the months of March and April, 1809, during which time there arose the highest number of victims. Two such books will be physically present during the exhibition: the one pertaining to the parish of Santa Cristina from Lavadores and the one from the collegiate church of Santa María
These two books were selected because they represent the urban part of Vigo (collegiate church) and the parishes of the area (Lavadores).
The military headquarters of the Vigo partisans was based at Lavadores in the days prior to the battle for the Reconquest. The Abbot of Valadares and the Mayor of Fragoso were the first leaders of the uprising and moved their headquarters from Zamáns to Lavadores during the first week of March, in order to tighten the siege on the city of Vigo and make life difficult for the French occupation force.
Special display cabinets have been made to exhibit these historical books with proper control of lighting, temperature and humidity to provide maximum protection to the same because paper requires adequate measures for proper conservation.
Reproductions from other books will also be exhibited to show the most significant deaths. It is estimated that the final battle of the Reconquest had a toll of thirty Vigo citizens and about one hundred French soldiers.
Some of the deceased that appear in the book did not fall in the Reconquest battle itself but were victims of the brigade under the command of Chapuzet, who was sent by Lamartiniere from Tui, to reinforce the troops that were stationed in Vigo under the command of Chalot.
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