Do you know the Metropolitan Cathedral of São Sebastião de Rio de Janeiro?

Today I will tell you about the Cathedral of San Sebastián.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro or also called Rio Metropolitan Cathedral Or simply the Cathedral of San Sebastián is located in the center of the city, near Lapa. It was a project developed by the architect Edgar de Oliveira da Fonseca, which began in 1964. A very problematic year for the country. The project took 15 years to complete, with dimensions of 75 m high and 106 m in diameter.

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The space of the cathedral can house 20,000 people standing and 5,000 people sitting. Its structure is made of reinforced concrete and all have a central spatial organization connected to a Greek cross in the center.

From this cross come four large and long stained glass windows that allow the interior lighting of the structure. Catedral is undoubtedly an example of modern architecture in Brazil. The equidistant and conical circular structure attempts to convey the idea of God’s closeness to all, which is the same.

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Right in front of the Cathedral we have a statue of Pope John Paul Segundo who celebrated Mass there in 1980. Another Pope who was in the Metropolitan Cathedral was Pope Francis in 2013 due to World Youth Day.

At that time, the Pope closed the doors of the church and was in a meeting with only the young people who participated in World Day.

How to get

The Cathedral is on Avenida de Chile 245, right next to the Petrobras building. The best way to arrive in our opinion for the tourist is to take the subway line 1 to the Carioca station. Leave Largo da Carioca and from there you can see the structure that goes towards it, there is not much secret.