St. Joseph's Cathedral, Fortaleza, Gothic Revival cathedral in Center of Fortaleza, Brazil.
St. Joseph's Cathedral is a Gothic Revival cathedral on Pedro II Square in central Fortaleza, built of pale stone streaked dark by weathering. Two towers rise 75 metres, each topped with a pointed spire and pierced by tall louvered windows. A rose window with flower-like tracery sits above a recessed portal of concentric pointed arches, with smaller arched doorways at the sides and a wide stone stairway leading up.
Construction started in the late 1930s under the direction of a French architect and took four decades to complete. The church was built to replace a smaller 18th-century chapel that previously stood on this site.
The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Joseph, its patron saint. The crypt, inaugurated in 1962, is called the Crypt of Adolescents because it honours six young saints: Dominic Savio, Pancras, Tarcisius, Maria Goretti, Agnes and Lucy. It holds the Chapel of the Risen One and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and the remains of archbishops Manoel da Silva Gomes and Antônio de Almeida Lustosa lie there.
The cathedral fills most of Praça Pedro II, also called Praça da Sé, in the historic centre, and a wide stone stairway climbs to the three portals. The crypt, reached inside, seats 350 people and was fitted with granite flooring, new lighting and air conditioning in its 2011 renovation. Exterior LED lighting was installed on 12 August 2011.
Beneath the main altar lies an underground crypt from the early 1960s with a small prayer room. This space is dedicated to young saints and also serves as a resting place for former church leaders of the region.
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