Brasilia Cathedral

The Catheral

The Cathedral of Brasilia, Catedral Metropolitana Nossa Senhora Aparecida - or Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Aparecida - is a Roman Catholic cathedral serving the City of Brasilia, Brazil.  It also serves as the seat of the Archdiocese of Brasilia.

It is an unusual structure, resembling very much a rib roast from the outside... and I hope that's not being disrespectful!  Apparently the columns are supposed to represent hands stretching upwards to heaven.

The interior, however, is quite lovely.

On the grounds is a remarkable bell tower.  To me it almost looks like a Menorah.

Bell Tower

The Evangelists:  Nearly 10 foot tall bronze statues of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John stand at the entrance. Traditional Christian iconography usually tells you who is who, however, I found it hard to puzzle out from these images, each of whom is holding a scroll.

Sadly, they were cleaning the entrance when my friend visited the Cathedral, so the workmen are in the way of this photo. It is interesting to note that visitors enter into the cathedral through a dark tunnel.  It is perhaps symbolic that they eventually emerge into a bright worshipful space with a mostly glass roof.

Entrance to the Cathedral

Inside the cathedral hang sculptures of three angels, suspended from the ceiling by steel cables.

The shortest is about 7 feet long and weighs about 220 lbs, the middle one is 11 feet long and weighs 440 lbs, the third and largest is nearly 14 feet long and weighs 660 lbs.

I hope they never have a major earthquake.  Living in earthquake country as I do, I think I'd be very uneasy having those huge things suspended in the air above me, even though the effect in the space of the cathedral is truly beautiful.

The sculptures are by Alfredo Ceschiatti, in collaboration with Dante Croce, and were done in 1970.  The altar was donated by Pope Paul VI.

The stained glass is actually suspended between concrete pillars and fiberglass,  The artwork, done in blue, green, white and brown glass was created in 1990 by artist Marianne Peretti.

Good name for an artist.

Just sayin'.

The Stations of the Cross can be found in this unusual display on one side of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of Our Lady of Aparecida.  She is proclaimed by the Church as the Queen and Patroness of Brazil.

The Cathedral was designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer.  It went through a complete renovation in 2012 to update and repair the building.  This coincided with the 50th anniversary of the City of Brasilia.

In 1990 the building was declared a national historic and artistic monument for the country of Brazil.  More than a million visitors each year come to view its treasures.  However, extremely poor acoustics and bad ventilation make it difficult to hold services here.  Brasilia is a very sunny city!

Still, as a work of art, it's a pretty amazing edifice.

Photos: M. Torres