In the central region of the city of Rio de Janeiro there was an old hermitage dedicated to São José, very close to the extinct Morro do Castelo. In the year 1807, the brotherhood that took care of this temple decided to join efforts to make a bigger and more beautiful church, and in the following year the works began.

The structure of the church was made of masonry, with external ornamentation in ashlar stones, made in such a way as to highlight the beauty of the geometric proportions. The architects who headed the work were Felix José de Souza and João da Silva Muniz, who belonged to the Portuguese Royal House, and who came to Brazil along with the entourage of Dom João VI.

Internally, the carving was made in a transition from the baroque rococo style to the neoclassical, by the artist Simão José de Nazareth, a brown man who would have attended the school of the well-known Master Valentim.

In 1824, after Brazil’s independence, the church was finished and officially blessed.

The full name is “Igreja do Glorioso Patriarca São José”, and is located next to the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro.

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Saint Joseph Church

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Saint Joseph Church

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