Exploring the Area Surrounding Belo Horizonte: Pampulha

This is the church that put Oscar Niemeyer on the world architectural map. Seriously. I will explain.

It's pouring down rain today in Belo Horizonte. But you can't stop the tourism with a simple rainstorm.

The stop before the first stop was a viewpoint overlooking the city of Belo Horizonte.

This is Praça do Papa or, if you prefer something more secular than "Plaza of the Pope," referring to Saint John Paul II, this also is Praça Governador Israel Pinheiro. This is renowned for its spectacular view of the entirety of Belo Horizonte.

It's raining rather hard (and it's much cooler than you would think late spring weather anywhere in Brazil would be), so there is not much "enjoying of the view" happening. From the pictures I've seen, on a clear evening, just as the sun is going down, it is spectacular. But just about everything looks better on a clear sunny evening when the sun is setting than it does mid-day in the rain. Fact o' life.

But the real actual first stop of the day was Pampulha.

Lagoa de Pampulha is nice, but it's not the star attraction.

Nor is the Mineirão.

This is the huge football stadium serving the city. Let's not dwell on it because it was the site of the darkest moment of Brazilian football history that has happened during my lifetime. (The darkest moment was in 1950 before I was born. I refer to 2014, which is well within the lifespan thus far.)

The reason to come to Pampulha is this simple-appearing chapel.

Capela Curial de São Francisco de Assis. The Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi.

This is the design that first made Oscar Niemeyer famous. This is the design that brought modern/futuristic architecture to Brazil. It was built in 1943, although it was not consecrated as church until 1959. (So many reasons, not the least of which was its scandalously modern, un-church-like, design.)

Let's have a peek inside: 

That is Niemeyer's preliminary sketch.

This is the altar:

Let's step back for a fuller view.

The painting was done by Niemeyer's compatriot Candido Portinari.

This is the baptismal font, which is surrounding by four panels depicting the story of Adam and Eve.

There are the other two panels. On the left is Eve giving Adam the apple to eat all under the watchful eye of that serpent. On the right are the now clothed Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden.

From the eating of that apple came the gift and curse that is human consciousness. With it, we are fully human. Without it, we were living in paradise.

Here is the view from the alter looking out onto the small chapel.

Yes, it is a very small chapel. But it started an architectural revolution. Space age modernism came to South America.

From the seeds of this simple chapel grew the career of Oscar Niemeyer, which hit its peak with the design of Brazil's new capital Brasilia in 1960. Juscelino Kubitschek was the president of Brazil responsible for moving the Brazilian capital into the interior into the new, planned city of Brasilia in 1960.  The same Juscilino Kubitschek was the mayor of Belo Horizonte who picked Niemeyer to design this chapel in 1943.