Candelária Church, Roman Catholic church in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Candelária Church is a Latin-cross church in downtown Rio de Janeiro whose Baroque façade, with two towers and a triangular pediment, contrasts dark granite window frames and columns with whitewashed wall segments. The towers carry clock faces and small cupolas with crosses, and a circular stone fountain stands on the paved area in front. The dome over the transept, made in Lisbon of white Lioz stone with eight statues, was completed in 1877.
A chapel was first built on this site in 1609 by Portuguese merchants who survived a maritime disaster. Construction of the current structure later replaced this earlier place of worship.
The church has long been a traditional venue for weddings of Rio's society. Its name comes from a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Candelária, built around 1609 by António Martins Palma and Leonor Gonçalves after surviving a storm at sea. The bronze doors at the main entrance date from around 1901.
The church stands in the Centro of Rio de Janeiro, with its main façade facing the Baía de Guanabara, the historic entry route into the city. The bronze entrance doors face the paved area with the circular stone fountain, so approach from that side to see the façade and dome together. The dome rises 62.24 metres from the ground to the lantern, and was the tallest structure in the city when completed.
The dome and its eight statues were carved from white Lioz stone in Lisbon and shipped to Rio; when completed in 1877 it stood 62.24 metres tall, the highest structure in the city. In Coelho Neto's novel A Conquista a migrant arriving by ship mistakes the dome for an egg.
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