SANTUÁRIO DO BOM JESUS DE MATOSINHOS

The sanctuary comprises a church, a terraced staircase decorated with soapstone sculptures of Old Testament prophets, and six chapels. The sanctuary was declared a World Heritage Site in 1985. The entire complex (church and chapels) was created by the two artists who were responsible for the splendor of Mineiro Baroque art: Aleijadinho and Ataide.

The Passion of the Christ chapels, which recount the events that accompanied the death of Jesus of Nazareth, are spectacular. Aleijadinho has added a few deliberately anachronistic details to mock the Portuguese. The Romans' boots are in fact Portuguese boots, as if to show the barbaric nature of the presence of soldiers and officials from the Portuguese Empire. These Luso-Romans sometimes have two left feet... According to some historians, Christ's martyrdom can be seen as an allegory for the struggle of the "inconfidents" against the Portuguese Crown. The hero Joaquim José da Silva Xavier "Tiradentes" himself is said to be the model for the little cripple.

The tour begins at the bottom of the hill, at the first chapel, which houses cedar wood statues. This is the well-known scene: Judas, with a bag of gold in his hand, looks towards the ground as it is announced that there is a traitor in the room. Higher up, the second scene is that of the Garden of Olives, with St. Peter in gloom. The third chapel depicts the arrest of Jesus: Malchus has his ear cut off. The fourth depicts the scourging and crowning with thorns; the fifth, the Stations of the Cross; the sixth, the crucifixion. Soldiers are shown playing dice with his cloak, others nailing Christ, and the two thieves.

Finally, on the church terrace stand the twelve soapstone statues of the prophets. Some see here the zenith of Aleijadinho art. They include Daniel, talking to his lion; Ezekiel, holding God's wrath on his arm; the bearded Isaiah; Jonah, returning from a sojourn in the belly of the whale. Admire the realism of some of these works, and the Aleijadinho's little "touch": the lion was sculpted after the shape of a cat, since the Aleijadinho had never seen lions before.

The Holy Week processions are particularly spectacular. In the second week of September, over 500,000 pilgrims attend the Jubilee of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos.