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The Igreja da Sé or Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Vitória, is the Cathedral of São Luís do Maranhão.
Located in the city’s Historic Centre, the Igreja da Sé is one of the region’s tourist attractions.
It is worth admiring its façade and entering the church to discover its riches.
Built in 1762 by the Jesuits, the church was dedicated to Our Lady of Victory or Nossa Senhora da Vitória.
The story goes that the Saint appeared at the Battle of Guaxenduba, when the Portuguese were fighting to expel the French from the lands of Maranhão.
As the Portuguese were in the minority, the saint appeared to cheer them up and turned sand into gunpowder and pebbles into projectiles.
Video about Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Vitória
Igreja da Sé em São Luís (MA)
In the end, the Portuguese managed to expel the French from the land for good. For this reason, Our Lady of Victory is considered the patron saint of São Luís do Maranhão.
The Church of the Cathedral received its name and a Latin scripture referring to the saint.
Construction and characteristics of the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Vitória
In 1922, with the construction of the second tower, the church gained the neoclassical style that it still has today.
In the annexed building, the Archdiocese of São Luís operates. If the facade is already impressive, the interior of the church is even more beautiful. The church is well lit and very clear.
The altar, all in gold, draws attention, but the painting on the ceiling with soft tones also has its place.
Very different from the churches in Minas Gerais that are an exaggeration of gold!
The Cathedral’s greatest asset and highlight is its 17th-century gilded high altar, made with indigenous labour.
It is one of the best examples of the time of Colonial Brazil. It was listed by IPHAN in 1954.
The diocese of São Luís do Maranhão was created in 1677, covering from Ceará to the North Cape (Amapá), and at the time was dependent on the Patriarchate of Lisbon. In the early days of the diocese, the Mother Church of Nossa Senhora da Vitória was used as the cathedral.
The present cathedral building was not initially built with the purpose of being a cathedral seat.
In 1622, the Jesuit priests Luís Figueira and Benedito Amodei began the construction of the College and Church of Our Lady of Light, on a site where a chapel had been erected by French Capuchins at the time of Equinoctial France.
In 1690, a new building was begun, designed by the Jesuit João Felipe Bettendorf, built with indigenous labour and inaugurated in 1699.
Next to the church was the Jesuit College, a major cultural centre in the region. In 1760, its bookshop held 5,000 volumes.
The high altar is one of the finest pieces of woodcarving in São Luís. Dating from 1699, it was designed by Father Felipe Bettendorf and carved by the Portuguese Manoel Mansos.
The high altar is one of the finest carvings in São Luís, made entirely of polychrome wood, 10 metres high, 7.5 metres wide and 3.1 metres deep.
The altar was completely sanitised to remove termites and any other insects. It has been given artistic lighting and all the images have been restored.
Museum of Sacred Art at the Archiepiscopal Palace
Another novelty in the architectural ensemble is the installation of the Museum of Sacred Art in the Archiepiscopal Palace.
The museum previously operated in a building attached to the Historical and Artistic Museum of Maranhão and will now be reopened with a more contextualised and attractive exhibition.
All the pieces of the collection have been restored and received informative entries that will make the visitation more complete. The exhibition is divided into 13 rooms that also tell a little of the religious history and its importance in the construction of Maranhão.
In all 400 pieces will be exposed. The works have full protection, being covered with bulletproof tempered glass domes, or being behind showcases. A lift has also been installed on site to ensure accessibility.
The space has been ceded by the church for 30 years.
Tourism and Travel Guide to São Luís do Maranhão
