Sanctuary The Prophets 1 The Church 1 1 2 The Hall of Miracles 2 3 The Church courtyard of the Prophets 3 2 The Chapels of The Passion 4 Joel 5 Amos 4 The Last Supper 6 Baruch 5 The Agony in the Garden 3 9 7 Ezekiel 6 The Arrest of 8 Nahum 7 The Flagellation and Crown of thorns 9 Obadiah 8 The Carrying of the Cross 8 7 10 9 The Crucifixion 11 Jeremiah 12

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VISITS

Visiting hours:

FUMCULT tribution Tuesday to Sunday from 6 AM to 6 PM The chapels are open until 8.30 PM ee di s

Information: + 55 31 3732-2076 r F dá o: ©Luis Sa r Pho t

THE SANCTUARY OF BOM JESUS DE MATOSINHOS MG son Athaydes e r e l o: © W Pho t ongonhas C son Athaydes e r e l os: © W Pho t

The construction of the Bom Jesus de Matosinhos Sanctuary began in 1757, in honour of a vow made by a Portuguese immigrant Feliciano Mendes, who donated his fortune to erect a temple to Bom Jesus de Matosinhos under the authority of the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in his hometown of Braga, Portugal. The works began with his donation but went on until 1875, when the last chapel was completed.

The genius of Aleijadinho

The chapels, the Parvis of the Prophets and the Church of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos form a grandiose open-air scenery. Six white chapels, connected by a path framed with Imperial palm trees, lead to the Parvis of the Prophets, which in turn leads to the 18th-century church. The religious drama played out against this magnificent natural backdrop is that of the Crucifixion of Christ, depicted on the church’s high altar, on the parvis’ stairways and inside the chapels called Passos, alluding to the stations of the Via Sacra in Jerusalem, whose distance is

dá measured in steps, inviting visitors to walk through them. This grand scenery is a direct descendant of European Sacromontes, symbolic dramas that were enacted to allow Christians unable to travel to the Holy Land to make o: ©Luis Sa r "substitute pilgrimages". Pho t

From above, the twelve Prophets from the Old Testament cast their prophecies, each bearing a text fixed in stone for all eternity. Aleijadinho directed, envisioned and made these actor-, with the assistance of his workshop officials. The wood-carved scenes from the Passion counted with the participation of Aleijadinho and his workshop. Many of them were polychromed by one of the leading artists of Baroque, painter Manoel da Costa Athaide. The Sanctuary is a work of art as well as a major pilgrimage site to this day. Its great procession – the Jubilee – takes place in September, when a crowd of devotees congregates around the Passos, in a re-enactment of the Via Sacra.

World´s Heritage

The Bom Jesus de Matosinhos Sanctuary was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1985. It is one of the masterpieces of Baroque, a testimony to the creative genius and perseverance of Antônio Francisco Lisboa, Aleijadinho, who, against all the

dá limitations imposed by his illness, at the end of his life, left a remarkable masterpiece on top of Maranhão Hill. o: ©Luis Sa r Pho t son Athaydes e r e l o: © W Pho t