Our Lady of Remedies, Luanda, Angola
This church is located on the former Street of Praia in downtown and was built due to the wish of the traders and other downtown inhabitants to compete with the uptown where the main religious buildings were located. Its construction began in 1651 and ended in 1670.
Cadornega describes it as a “sumptuous building, properly constructed, by the Corpus Christi confraternity and brotherhood at the invocation of Our lady of Remedies, who serve the citizens and inhabitants, taking many expenses at their own charge”.
The original church had a baroque façade consisting of three doors topped by small triangular pediments and edged by a roughly triangular pediment with spirals on each apex and a very intricate oculus. It had a rectangular plan with a wide nave, inscribed transept and main and side altars. The composition of the façade was capped by two square plan belfries topped by pyramidal finials.
It was totally ruined in 1877. In 1897 a restoration work gave it the appearance it has today, converting it into single bay style with three doors and a round pediment. In the late 1940s it was considered worthy of preservation being therefore classified as a Building of Public Interest by directive no. 6718 of the 25th May 1949. It served as cathedral between 1828 and 1850 and has recently resumed its role as the See Cathedral of Luanda.
Epic Angola Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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