| Rio de Janeiro - Churches - Outeiro da Glória Church |
Despite the peculiar name - Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro - this church is
considered a relic of the brazilian colonial period. Its construction begun in 1714 and it was inaugurated in 1739. Formerly, the hillock
where the sanctuary is located was at the seashore and had so much notability in Rio de Janeiro’s landscape that it was incorporated to the
name.
Nowadays, the church is far from the beach due to constant embankments in the
surrounding beaches, but the landscape continues impressive. From there, it’s possible to observe almost the entire Guanabara’s Bay, from “Pão
de Açúcar” to the gardens of Flamengo’s Park.
What makes the church so special is not the architecture or the carved wood
images, spread all over the church, but the hand painted 18th century glazed tiles. The tiles form panels with biblical themes and cover the
nave, the chapel, the sacristy and the chorus.
The devotion to Nossa Senhora da Glória arisen when a small statue of the saint
was put in a natural cave at the hill. From this moment, the place was transformed in stronghold of pilgrims. When the portuguese royal family
arrived in Brazil, escaping from the Napoleon troops in 1808, they adopted the church as baptism place of all royalty integrants born in Brazil.
Such attitude made the place even more searched by vassals and faithful.
At the church’s side, there’s a museum with almost 1000 pieces classified. In
1938, the National Artistic and Historical Patrimony Institute registered the church.
Address: Praça Nossa Senhora da Glória, 135/204
Phone: 55-21-2225-2869 / 2557-4600
Fax: 55-21-2557-6908 |
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