Antioquina Orthodox Church of Our Lady released images of damage after fire in the Rua 25 de Março region
Photo: Antiochian Orthodox Church of Our Lady/Facebook/Estadão
First orthodox church in Brazil, the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Annunciation to Our Lady is among the properties affected in a fire that started on Sunday night, 10, in the area of Rua 25 de Março, in downtown São Paulo. From 1904, the religious temple is listed in the municipal sphere since 2007, together with other buildings of the so-called “Old Center”, and is a landmark of the Syrian-Lebanese immigration in the country.
According to the fire department, the fire is in the aftermath. According to Captain André Elias, spokesman for the corporation, the warehouse and the church’s mezzanine were heavily destroyed. The religious temple is on Rua Cavalheiro Basilio Jafet115, with weekly masses on Wednesday mornings.
Members of the religious community had special authorization to remove objects and, according to them, the altar was not hit. “Unfortunately the damage was great”, regrets publication made by the church’s social network page. In the post, there are photos of collapsed structures, damage to the spiral staircase and furniture.
Interior of the church before the fire
Photo: Helcio Nagamine/Estadão
The church was built with resources from Syrian and Lebanese immigrants from 1902, according to information from the institution. Two decades earlier, in January 1897, a mass in a hall on Rua 25 de Março would have been the first Orthodox Christian celebrated in South America.
Over the decades, it has undergone different external transformations. Originally with a bell tower and a tower, it was modified in an expansion that raised another six upper floors, with commercial rooms. With the move, it was housed in a mostly commercial building, also with shops on the ground floor.
The church has an entrance with a large wooden door surrounded by ornaments. Years ago, it had the original bell removed and transferred to the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral for display, according to the institution. In 2016, it was on the agenda of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to Brazil.
The church has also been an important meeting place for the local community for decades. According to the dissertation by researcher Juliana Mouawad Khouri, from USP, several institutions linked to Syrians and Lebanese were created in the place, such as Hospital Sírio-Libanês, founded in the parish hall, for example.
The church is listed at protection level P-2, which “corresponds to assets of great historical, architectural or scenic interest”, according to the municipal preservation resolution. Therefore, it must fully maintain the external characteristics and part of the internal ones.
