Sao Francisco Square Brazil

Sao Francisco Square in the Town of Sao Cristovao is a quadrilateral open space surrounded by substantial early buildings such as Sao Francisco Church and convent, the Church and Santa Casa da Misericórdia, the Provincial Palace and the associated houses of different historical periods surrounding the Square. This monumental ensemble, together with the surrounding 18th- and 19th- century houses, creates an urban landscape which reflects the history of the town since its origin. The Franciscan complex is an example of the typical architecture of the religious order developed in north-eastern Brazil.

Continent: South America

Country: Brazil

Category: Cultural

Criterion: (II)(IV)

Date of Inscription: 2010

Homogeneous Monumental

Sao Francisco Square in the Town of Sao Cristovao, in the North East of Brazil, is an exceptional and homogeneous monumental ensemble made up of public and private buildings representing the period during which the Portuguese and Spanish crowns were united. The São Francisco Square constitutes a coherent and harmonious ensemble which merges the patterns of land occupation followed by Portugal and the norms defined for towns established by Spain

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Tropical Landscape

Established in accordance with the length and width required by Act IX of the Philippine Ordinances, this square incorporates the concept of a Plaza Mayor as employed in the colonial cities of Hispanic America, while at the same time inserted in the urban pattern of a Portuguese colonial town in a tropical landscape.

Hence, it may be considered a remarkable symbiosis of the urban planning of cities of Portugal and Spain. Relevant civil and religious institutional buildings, the main one being the complex of the Church and Convent of São Francisco, surround the square.

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