Igreja de Santo Antonio da Polana

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Igreja de Santo António da Polana (2009)
Interior of the church

The Igreja de Santo António da Polana , in German Church of Saint Anthony of Polana , also just Igreja da Polana for short , is a Franciscan church in the Sommerschield district of the Mozambican capital Maputo . It is located between Rua Kwame Nkrumah / Avenida Dr. Egas Moniz / Rua Luis Pasteur and was completed in 1962 according to plans by Nuno Craveiro Lopes .

history

The Franciscan congregation of Lourenço Marques in Mozambique, then Portuguese , commissioned the construction of a new church in 1958, which was initially commissioned by the architect Luís Possolo of the urban development department of the Colonial Ministry ( Direcção dos Serviços de Urbanismo e Habitação der Direcção Geral de Obras Públicas e Comunicaçioes do Minamaristérioes do Minamaristioes ) took over. However, since the municipality was not satisfied with the work progress of the administration, they awarded the contract again in 1959, this time to the Lourenço Marques-born architect Nuno Craveiro Lopes. Construction began in 1960 and was completed in 1962.

When designing the building, Craveiro Lopes is said to have drawn inspiration from the pilgrimage church of Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime in Syracuse , Italy, which was planned but not built until more than 30 years later . The free-standing church is dominated by the tapering concrete roof that completely covers the round building floor plan , which, through the folds of the building construction, gave it the nickname of the lemon squeezer ("espremedor de limão"). Due to its roof shape, the church building only has the round church space itself, into which light can enter from all sides through colored windows. Small, colored windows are also built into the roof dome. Due to its modern expressive architectural style, the church is considered unique in Maputo, and parallels are drawn with the works of Félix Candela .

Craveiro Lopes waived a fee from the Franciscan parish. However, since this changed the original plans - and the changes did not appeal to Lopes - he broke off all contact with the clients. Lopes originally planned a marble floor , but it was done with brown tiles. The altar was originally intended in the middle of the room - the faithful would have sat around the altar - instead it is now located directly on a wall. Furthermore, the community had a parish hall and a rectory built next to the church, which was not included in the planning.

The church was renovated in 1992.

Since 2011 the building has been in the preselection for a list of monuments for the city of Maputo. It is listed under number 27239 in the Portuguese monument database Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico , which also includes works by former Portuguese colonies.

Web links

Commons : Igreja da Polana  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Anouk Costa, Tiagou Lourenço and Manuel Freitas: Igreja de Santo António Polana / Igreja da Polana. In: Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico (SIPA). Retrieved September 8, 2014 (Portuguese, 2009/2011).
  2. ↑ Ana Vaz Milheiro: Nos TROPICOS Sem Le Corbusier . Arquitectura Luso-Africana no Estado Novo. 1st edition. Relógio D'Água, Lisbon 2012, ISBN 978-989-641-301-9 , p. 130 (Portuguese, quoted from José Luís Posso de Saldanha: Os projectos executados pelo arquitecto Luís Possolo para a Província Ultramarina Portuguesa de Moçambique , October 2012, p. 7).
  3. ↑ Elisário Miranda: Igreja de Santo António (Polana). In: Património de Influência Portuguesa (HPIP). Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, October 18, 2012, accessed September 8, 2014 (Portuguese).
  4. ↑ Teresa Cotrim: Descubra o país: Igreja Santo António do Polana. In: Sapo. February 18, 2009, accessed September 8, 2014 (Portuguese).

Coordinates: 25 ° 57 ′ 56.2 ″  S , 32 ° 35 ′ 49.3 ″  E