Basilica of the Conception of Mary (Salvador)

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Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
inner space

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (in Portuguese, Basílica Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia ) or the Basilica of the Conception, is a church in Salvador , capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia . The Catholic Church was built in 1623, making it one of the oldest parishes in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia and the first church built by Brazil's first Governor General , Tomé de Sousa . Today's building, located in the Comercio district by Elevador Lacerda , was built in Baroque style based on a model brought from Portugal and listed as a historical building in 1938 by the National Institute for Historical and Artistic Heritage . The elevation to the minor basilica took place on October 7, 1946. Pope Pius XII. declared Our Lady of Conception the sole patroness of the State of Bahia. Robert C. Smith described the building as "the first and most expression of the new Baroque style in Brazil, from the early years of the reign Johann V. the Mannerism replaced in Portugal."

history

Emergence

The current church building is the third to be built on the site. Tomé de Sousa (1503–1579), the first governor general of the Portuguese colony of Brazil, built a first settlement and chapel on the site of the current church in 1549, at the beginning of the construction of Salvador. Father Manuel da Nóbrega (1517–1570) and six Jesuit clergymen personally built a small chapel with clay walls at the foot of the slope between today's upper and lower town. The chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of Conception and housed an image that Tomé de Sousa had brought from Portugal. The place is near the sea and was a place of worship for the seamen and traders arriving in Brazil; they called the church Conceição da Praia (Conception of the Beach), a name that was retained during later renovations.

17th century

The growth of the population of the lower town and the area near the port of Salvador made it necessary to build a larger church. Marcos Teixeira de Mendonça (1578-1624), a bishop and resistance leader against the Dutch attacks on Brazil , expanded the church in 1623. It was renamed Matriz da Nova Freguesia de Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia and funded by wealthy Portuguese merchants in the area.

18th and 19th centuries

The Santíssimo Sacramento da Imaculada Conceição, a fraternal order, decided in 1736 to completely rebuild the church. The military engineer Manuel Cardoso de Saldanha planned the church and Manuel Vicente, a master stonemason, supervised the construction. The master mason and architect Eugénio da Mota prepared the Lioz masonry in Portugal and accompanied it to Salvador. The import of Lioz masonry from Portugal for use as architectural elements in Brazil began in the 16th century; it also served as ballast for the Portuguese ships going to Brazil. Construction of the church began in 1739, but was delayed in 1758 due to a financial slump in Bahia. The woodcarver Lourenço Rodrigues Lançarote completed the elaborate side altars in 1765. The new, still unfinished building was consecrated on December 8th of the same year by the Archbishop of Bahia, Frei Manuel de Santa Inês Ferreira (1704–1771). Eugenio da Mota returned to Lisbon in 1769, “old and almost blind”. Four Portuguese stonemasons have succeeded Da Mota. The central part and the left wing of the church were completed in 1820. The massive staircase in the Lioz and the right wing of the building were completed in 1850.

Building

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception looks directly to the northwest on All Saints Bay . After numerous additions to the port facilities in the area, it is now in the south of the lower town. Parts of the church, especially the choir, are built directly into the cliff that marks the transition to the upper town. The church is characterized by the use of natural light: it has a dome over the entrance and is oriented directly to the west in order to use the light of All Saints Bay through numerous doors and windows.

Furnishing

altar

The interior of the church is the first complete example of the Baroque style of John V of Portugal; it was partially redesigned in the 19th century in the classical style. The high altar is richly decorated with monumental Solomonic columns, a silver altar and an image of Our Lady of Conception in the middle. The master carver João Moreira do Espírito Santo completed the carving of the high altar from cedar wood between 1765 and 1773. Domingos Luiz Soares is responsible for the gilding of the high altar, among other things. The Italian Solomonic columns, decorated with garlands of flowers and acanthus details, are similar to those of the ciborium of St. Peter's Basilica . A dome and two massive oculi in the choir ceiling provide natural light for the choir and the high altar. The ceiling of the nave is in the baroque illusion style and executed by José Joaquim da Rocha (around 1737-1807). The church has eight side chapels: three on each side of the nave and one on each side of the high altar.

Web links

Commons : Basilica of the Conception  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexandra de Vries, Shawn Blore: Frommer's Brazil. John Wiley & Sons, April 24, 2012, accessed December 30, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Revista do Instituto Genealógico da Bahia , Bahia, Instituto Genealógico, 2005-01-01, The Institute (Portuguese)
  3. ^ Philip J. Havik, MDD Newitt: Creole Societies in the Portuguese Colonial Empire. In: University of Bristol, Department of Hispanic, Portuguese & Latin American Studies. January 1, 2007, accessed December 31, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on gcatholic.org (English)
  5. ^ A b c Germain Bazin: L'architecture religieuse baroque au Brésil . Edition 2, São Paulo, Museu de Arte, 1956, pp. 23–24 (French)
  6. ^ A b c Robert C. Smith: Nossa Senhora da Conceicao da Praia and the Joanine Style in Brazil. The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 1956, pp. 16-23 , accessed December 31, 2019 (Portuguese).
  7. ↑ a b c André Vilaron: Igrejas históricas de Salvador , Ministério das Relações Exteriores, Governo Federal, Brasília, 2007, 149–157 (Portuguese)
  8. ↑ a b Pequena guia das igrejas da Bahia , Departamento de Cultura da Secretaria de Educação e Cultura da Prefeitura da Cidade do Salvador, Bahia, Prefeitura do Salvador, 1977, Chapter 15, pp. 5-6 (Portuguese)
  9. ^ A b c Eugénio Ávila Lins: Church of Our Lady of the Conception of Praia. Heritage of Portuguese Influence / Património de Influência Portuguesa, 2012, accessed December 31, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Maria Carrazzoni: Guia dos bens tombados . EXPED-Expansão Editorial, Rio de Janeiro, 1980, p. 93 (Portuguese)

Coordinates: 12 ° 58 ′ 31.3 "  S , 38 ° 30 ′ 51.4"  W.