Church of Saint Louis Gonzaga, Jesuit church in Vila Pereira Barreto, São Paulo, Brazil.
Paróquia São Luís Gonzaga is a Jesuit Catholic church on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo, inaugurated in 1935 to a Greco-Roman design by engineer and architect Luís de Anhaia Mello, a former student of Colégio São Luís. Its large Ionic portico is inspired by the Erechtheion in Athens, with 11-metre pink granite columns topped by 3-tonne bronze capitals cast at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios de São Paulo.
The church was inaugurated in 1935, designed in Greco-Roman style by engineer and architect Luís de Anhaia Mello, a former student of Colégio São Luís. Its grand Ionic portico was inspired by the Erechtheion in Athens, Greece. The Jesuit parish stands on Avenida Paulista, one of São Paulo's main avenues.
The church is run by the Jesuits and named after Saint Louis Gonzaga, the young Jesuit saint. Its architect, Luís de Anhaia Mello, had studied at the Colégio São Luís, the Jesuit school linked to the parish. The bronze capitals of the portico were modelled and cast at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios de São Paulo.
The church stands on Avenida Paulista, at the coordinates -23.55628, -46.66148, so it is reached on foot from the surrounding blocks of the avenue. The entrance is through the great Ionic portico; the pink granite columns rise 11 metres to bronze capitals. As an active Jesuit parish, it is best visited outside Mass times.
The bronze capitals atop the 11-metre pink granite columns weigh 3 tonnes each and were modelled and cast at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios de São Paulo. The Ionic portico follows the Erechtheion in Athens, a detail visible from the Avenida Paulista.
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