The Parish Church of Saint Antony of Jacobina ( pt, Igreja Matriz de Santo António em Jacobina) is an 18th-century

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located in

Jacobina Jacobina is a city in the Centro Norte Baiano mesoregion of Bahia. It was founded July 28, 1722 and the population is 80,635. The town is surrounded by mountains, hills, lakes, rivers, springs, and waterfalls. Located in the northwest region of ...

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. It was constructed in 1758 and is dedicated to Saint Anthony, and is now part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Bonfim The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bonfim ( la, Dioecesis Bonfimensis) is a diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana in northeastern Brazil. Its episcopal cathedral is Catedral Senhor ...

. It covers . The Institute of Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Bahia listed the church as a state heritage site in 2002.

Location

The Church of the Conception is located in the historic center of Jacobina. The town is built on a hilly area of the base of the Serra da Conceição, and the church is likewise built on high

retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...

s. The structure volumetrically dominates the surrounding houses.

History

The first church in Jacobina was the Chapel of Our Lord of Glory (also known as the Chapel of the Missions, ''Capela das Missões''), which was built in 1706 to catechize the

Payaya people The Payaya people were Indigenous people whose territory encompassed the area of present-day San Antonio, Texas. The Payaya were a Coahuiltecan band and are the earliest recorded inhabitants of San Pedro Springs Park, the geographical area that ...

. João da Madre de Deus, the second archbishop of Bahia, created the parish of Jacobina Velha in 1683 in the present-day district of Campo Formoso. Rivalries between the Garcia d'Ávila and Guedes de Brito families, the most powerful at the time, led to the dissolution of the parish. Arcebispo José Botelho de Matos created a new parish was created in 1758 in Casa da Ponte, now the town of Jacobina. The new parish church was built on land of the Guedes de Brito family in the historic center of the town. It was followed in 1759 by the construction of the Church of the Conception of Jacobina. The tower on the left side of the church was built in 1895 under vicar Ágio Moreira Maia. Stones from the unfinished Church of the Remedies (''Igreja dos Remédios''). Renovations in 1922 significantly changed the structure. The lateral sacristies were closed in by screens. The baroque-style pediment of the facade was replaced with a pyramidal pediment identical to that of Church of the Conception of Jacobina. The exterior porches were covered. The old altars of the church were moved to new naves. The administration of the church, and others in Jacobina, was passed to the

Order of Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

in 1938. The structure, similar to the nearby Church of the Conception, has been substantially damaged by

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

s, notably of the altarpiece.

Structure

The Parish Church of Saint Antony of Jacobina is built on a rectangular plan and covers . The frontispiece is austere, with a central body, and a simple triangular pediment. The church has a single portals at center with three windows at the choir level. The structure has two towers, each with a portal at ground level. The tower at left is fully completed with a belfry and topped by a pyramid, the tower at left simply terminates in a pyramid. The nearby Church of the Conception of Jacobina has a similar set of towers, one with a belfry and the other without.

Interior

The interior consists of a central nave and chancel. The chancel is surrounded by a choir at left and right, and a sacristy behind the chancel. The nave has a corridor along its length at right and left, corresponding to the bell towers. There are lateral altars to either side of chancel arch. The altars have ornate baroque woodcarving.

Protected status

The Institute of Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Bahia listed the Parish Church of Saint Antony as a state heritage site in 2002.

Access

The church is open to the public and may be visited.

References

{{commons category, Igreja Matriz de Santo Antônio em Jacobina Roman Catholic churches in Bahia Portuguese colonial architecture in Brazil 1758 establishments in the Portuguese Empire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1758 State heritage sites of Bahia