Church of Saint Francis of Assisi (Pampulha)
Igreja São Francisco de Assis
Interesting facts
- Niemeyer borrowed the parabolic concrete vault, until then used only for aircraft hangars, and made it serve as both structure and walls.
- Niemeyer cited the poet Paul Claudel's idea of a church as God's hangar on earth; Time magazine reported the archbishop likened it to a bomb shelter for the devil.
- The archbishop declared the building unfit for worship, and a later official even tried to have it condemned and demolished.
- When demolition failed, the chapel was cluttered with altars and monuments in clashing styles until the heritage service took charge and Niemeyer refurbished it.
- It was the last building of the Pampulha ensemble to be inaugurated, and is regarded as the masterpiece of the whole group.
- The church was granted national heritage protection in 1947, only a few years after completion and while it was still barred from worship.
- On 4 October 2021, the feast of Saint Francis, the archbishop of Belo Horizonte raised the little church to the rank of archdiocesan sanctuary.
- Portinari's fourteen Stations of the Cross inside are considered among the most characteristic works of his career.
Why it is worth it
Four rolling concrete vaults, set beside an artificial lake, make the little church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Pampulha one of the founding works of Brazilian modern architecture. Oscar Niemeyer designed it in the early 1940s, and instead of walls and a roof he used parabolic vaults of reinforced concrete that are structure and enclosure at once. Outside, the walls are dressed in pale blue and white ceramic tiles; the figurative panels are by Candido Portinari and the abstract ones by Paulo Werneck.
The chapel belonged to a leisure district that Juscelino Kubitschek, then mayor of Belo Horizonte and later president of Brazil, commissioned around Lake Pampulha: a casino (now the Pampulha Art Museum), a dance hall known as the Casa do Baile, a yacht club and this church, with gardens by Roberto Burle Marx and structural engineering by Joaquim Cardozo. Inside, Portinari painted the mural behind the altar, showing Saint Francis with a wolf that looks more like a dog, and the fourteen Stations of the Cross; Alfredo Ceschiatti made the bronze reliefs of the baptistery.
The building was finished in 1943, but the archdiocese, under Archbishop Antonio dos Santos Cabral, refused to accept it, objecting both to its unconventional form and to Portinari's art. For fourteen years it could not be used for Catholic worship and was only consecrated in April 1959. Recognition outside the church came sooner: it is considered the first modern building in Brazil to be listed as an architectural monument, and in July 2016 it became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Pampulha Modern Ensemble.
Getting there
The church stands on the shore of Lake Pampulha, in the north of Belo Horizonte, about 8 km from the city centre. The nearest major airport is Tancredo Neves International Airport (CNF) at Confins, about 25 km away.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi is a chapel in Pampulha region of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It was designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the organic modern style. It is the first listed modern architectural monument in Brazil and consists of four undulating concrete parabolas with outdoor mosaics. The interior hosts a mural by Candido Portinari, and the exterior features a landscape designed by Roberto Burle Marx.
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