History of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem in Recife

The church of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem in Recife’s Boa Viagem Square, built on the sandy beach, is first mentioned in the 17th century.

Igreja Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem em Recife — Church of Our Lady of Boa Viagem in Recife PE

Around 1862, the Church of Our Lady of Boa Viagem underwent a major renovation that gave it its current appearance. It underwent both internal and external changes, with only the altar in the sacristy remaining.

“With the opening of the tram lines and Boa Viagem Avenue, the neighbourhood grew and modernised, and the church was one of the few historic buildings in the South Zone that resisted modern construction.

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Igreja Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem em Recife

History of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem

Until the middle of the 17th century, the Church of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem was located in the former territory of Barreta, which was the entire coastal area that stretched from the foreland of Pina to the town of Candeias.

We don’t know of any precise source that guarantees the date of the church’s inauguration. However, it is known that the church was completed in 1743.

Prior to 1848, the chapel belonged to the parish of Nossa Senhora da Paz, in Afogados, and it was only on 8 September of that year that it became an independent parish.

The oldest document concerning the Church of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem is a deed dated 6 June 1707.

In it, Balthazar da Costa Passos and his wife, Ana de Araújo Costa, donated to Father Leandro Camelo a place where there was an “oratory or presepe to Jesus and Mary, together with the land nearby, which was a plot of land in Barreta with a front of one hundred metres and a back of one league, from the beach to the river Jordão”.

In their wills, the donors, who were very religious, also added to the chapel’s assets another piece of land next door, “with 500 hectares of land, with about thirty coconut trees, where there is a rammed earth house for sale, where Manuel Setúbal used to live”.

Another piece of information, taken from historical documents, emphasises that Father Leandro Camelo, known at the time as a “man of great virtues”, used everything he had to have an image made, entitled Boa Viagem, in honour of the Most Holy Mary, and placed it in a magnificent church he built two leagues from Recife, on the coast, “placing his hopes in this Lady, whose care is always to lead us to the desired port of salvation”.

According to scholars, the Church of Our Lady of Boa Viagem, although modest, was one of the temples with the highest property income in Recife during the colonial period.

It belonged to five large estates, four small ones and twenty one-storey houses in the city, as well as a small coconut grove on the beach, donated by Father Luís Marques Teixeira on the sole condition that “the amount necessary to keep the lamp in the sanctuary of the church lit day and night” would be taken from his income.

The major renovation of the Church of Our Lady of the Good Voyage began in 1862.

The old building was replaced by a new one with a more solemn structure. Before that, there was a small church with simple lines and a porch in front, more like one of those modest country temples.

During the renovation, the monks preserved several altars, including the one in the sacristy of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem. Dating from 1745, it was carved by the master João Pereira and gilded by the artist Francisco Teixeira Ribeiro in 1772.

It was undoubtedly the Capelinha de Boa Viagem that gave its name to this beautiful beach. Among the administrators, it is worth mentioning the donors of the land themselves; Bhaltazar Passos’ brother, Antônio da Costa Passos, and his wife, Catarina de Araujo Sampaio; the priests Luiz Marques Teixeira and Inácio Ribeiro Noia.

At the beginning of the 20th century, access to Boa Viagem was still quite difficult. In 1908, for example, according to experts, there were only about 60 houses of regular construction and a chapel.

The town was only alive from September to March, when the seaside resort was popular.

Situated 11 km from the centre of Recife, Boa Viagem really took off after the construction of Avenida Beira-Mar. This made it possible for people to use the electric tram to get to the beach.

Before that, however, the only public transport was a donkey-drawn tram, inaugurated in 1899.

In addition to the work on the church, the administrators have tried in these more than three hundred years to participate as much as possible in the proclamation of the Gospel and the liturgical celebrations, creating an aura of attraction for the people who pass through or live there: boat people, fishermen, travellers, among others.

Above all, they were warned that there were serious problems of the soul which could not be abandoned.

On 8 September 1948, by decree of Archbishop Miguel de Lima Valverde, the parish of Our Lady of the Good Voyage was created. Miguel de Lima Valverde, the parish of Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem was created and its church was elevated to the category of parish church. Its first parish priest was Monsignor Romeu Vasconcelos de Sá Barreto, who remained here from 1 January 1949 until 6 August 1967, when he died.

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