Penedo, Alagoas, Brazil

Church of Santa Maria dos Anjos and the Convent of São Francisco (2007) – Part I/II

I visited the town of Penedo in 2007. The beautiful Portuguese and Dutch colonial architectures are well preserved and the churches are jewels to be explored. I will soon post photos of Part II. Enjoy the presentation!

“The site of the historic town of Penedo has been occupied by the Portuguese (and briefly the Dutch) since the earliest days of colonisation in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Historically an important crossing point and trading centre on the lower reaches of the River São Francisco, the town lost some of its earlier strategic importance when a road and rail bridge was finally built across the river at Propriá, around 30 kms upstream from Penedo, some decades ago.

Today the town is a quiet regional centre which is well worth a visit to enjoy the architectural richness of its central area which preserves many houses, and public and religious buildings from its long and often prosperous past.

The collection of large family houses in an eclectic variety of styles from the first half of the 20th century is especially splendid. Well worth a visit.

Penedo is a municipality in the state of Alagoas in Brazil. Its population was 59,968 (2005) and its area is 689 km²[1]. Founded in 1614, Penedo lies 173 km from the state capital of Maceió. Penedo has many important examples of Portuguese and Dutch colonial architectures, as well as beautiful landscapes.

Among its historically significant buildings are its well preserved churches, which were built through the 18th century. Some of these include:

Convento de São Francisco e Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos (Convent of Saint Francis and Church of Our Lady of the Angels)

Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Corrente (Church of Our Lady of the Chains),

Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos,

Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Penedo. (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Black People’s Rosary)

The Casa do Penedo, established in 1992, has as its objective the preservation of the city’s artistic and cultural patrimony. In the Casa do Penedo one can find a rich quantity of five centuries of creativity by residents of the São Francisco River Valley.

A good history of Penedo can be found in Francisco Alberto Sales’s book Arruando para o Forte.” Wikimapia

More info: http://www.penedo.al.gov.br/

Explore Penedo with Google Street View:  HERE

This presentation is best viewed in 1480 x 1020 pixels. If your resolution is 1024 x 768 you may need to upgrade to view the entire photo