Igreja de São Francisco Xavier, Colonial church in Jurujuba, Niterói, Brazil

Igreja de São Francisco Xavier is a colonial church standing on a hill at Saco de São Francisco with a simple white facade, a small cross, and a bell tower. The building sits on Praça Dom Orione along Rua General Rondon and remains in use for religious services today.

The church was built between 1622 and 1696 by Jesuits during the Portuguese colonial period and is attributed to Jesuit priest Lourenço Gonçalves. This timeframe marks a phase of religious expansion when missionaries established European faith structures in the region.

The church honours Saint Francis Xavier, who died in 1552 and was canonised in 1621, and a gilded wooden image of him stands on the simple wooden altar of the chancel. A painting of unclear origin shows a Jesuit priest catechising Indigenous people, and the ceramic baptismal font was carved by Indigenous hands.

The church stands on a hilltop reached by a climb up the outeiro, so allow time for the ascent. It belongs to the Parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Jurujuba, so check locally when the building is open for visits or services. The stone marker of the 1730 Jesuit land division stands along the way up.

Two sundials are carved into the church's exterior walls, both bearing the IHS emblem of the Society of Jesus. On the climb up the hill stands a stone marker set in 1730 by ombudsman Manoel da Costa Mimoso to fix the boundary of the Jesuit land grant.