São Francisco Square ( pt, Praça São Francisco) is a historic plaza in
São Cristóvão,
Sergipe
Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. Serg ...
,
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 ...
. The square, or ''praça'', is an open space surrounded by Portuguese colonial-period buildings such as the
Church and Convent of Santa Cruz
The Church and Convent of Santa Cruz ( pt, Igreja e Convento de Santa Cruz), also known as the Church and Convent of São Francisco ( pt, Igreja e Convento de São Francisco) is a 17th-century Catholic Church, Roman Catholic structure located in S ...
(São Francisco Church), the
Misericórdia Hospital and Church, the Provincial Palace and buildings from later periods. The complex is a well-preserved example of both the Spanish colonial and the Portuguese Franciscan architecture of north-eastern Brazil.
São Francisco Square is a stone-paved, open space measuring by . Its configuration reflects both Spanish and Portuguese influence, being organized as a ''plaza mayor'', the typical public space of Spanish colonial cities, following the prescriptions of the ''
Codigo Philippino'', a code of laws introduced by the
Iberian Union
pt, União Ibérica
, conventional_long_name =Iberian Union
, common_name =
, year_start = 1580
, date_start = 25 August
, life_span = 1580–1640
, event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession
, event_end = Portuguese Restoration War
, ...
of Spain and Portugal in 1603. The urban design of the city developed along the colonial Portuguese model after the end the union in 1640. The square represents a rare example of the fusion of colonial Spanish and Portuguese city planning. São Francisco Square is ringed by religious, administrative, and residential structures; in time additional religious and residential structures were constructed just beyond the square proper.
On August 1, 2010 the site, which covers , was selected as a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. It is managed by a regional office of the
National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage
The National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (, IPHAN) is a heritage register of the federal government of Brazil. It is responsible for the preservation of buildings, monuments, structures, objects and sites, as well as the register and ...
(IPHAN) and the municipal government.
History
São Cristóvão was divided into two distinct zones: the lower city, or ''cidade baixa'', where the port, factories and popular houses were located; upper city, or ''cidade alta'', located on the top of a hill. São Francisco Square developed as the focal point of the upper city, and came to house headquarters of colonial civil, military, and religious institutions. It also offered a strategic military vantage point to monitor the lower city, the land regions around São Cristóvão, and the Atlantic Ocean coast.
São Cristóvão was invaded by the Dutch in 1634 as part of the
Dutch invasion of Brazil. Luso-Spanish troops, under the command of the Count of Bagnoli, destroyed crops, scattered cattle, and called for the population to desert. The Dutch, who found a semi-deserted city, completed the destruction of both São Cristóvão and structures around the square. In 1645,
The Dutch were expelled from Sergipe in 1645 and left the city in ruins. The captaincy of Sergipe was annexed to Bahia at the end of the 17th century and São Cristóvão becomes the regional administrative center, with its administrative buildings centered around the square. The city and plaza were attacked by both inhabitants of Vila Nova, who objected to Portuguese tax collection; and an invasion in 1763 by ''mocambos'', or fugitive Afro-Brazilian slaves, and
indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
.
Access
São Cristóvão Square is located from the state capital of
Aracaju
Aracaju () is the capital of the state of Sergipe, Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country on the coast, about 350 km (217 mi) north of Salvador. According to the 2020 estimate, the city has 664,908 inhabitants, which rep ...
. Most of its historic buildings are open to the public and can be visited.
References
External links
Explore São Francisco Square in the Town of São Cristóvão in the UNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Francisco Square
Sergipe
World Heritage Sites in Brazil
Squares in Brazil