Mankind's Cultural Heritage in Brazil

Brazil gets another world heritage site

São Francisco Square, in the small town of São Cristóvão, in the state of Sergipe, is the newest World Heritage Site, according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). The inscription of the square on UNESCO’s list was confirmed on August 1st, during the 34th Session of the World Heritage Committee, in Brasilia.

Built at the end of the Sixteenth and beginning of the Seventeenth centuries, the square is the only expression of Spanish urban design in Brazil. The new World Heritage Site represents a specific moment in the history of Brazil, when Portugal and Spain were united under the same crown (Iberian Union), between 1580 and 1640. The square is formed by the São Francisco church and convent, the Chapel of the Third Order – currently the Sacred Art Museum –, the Holy House, the Mercy Church and the Provincial Palace.

São Cristóvão, located 23 km away from Aracaju, is Sergipe’s former capital and the fourth oldest city in Brazil. With this ‘Sergipian’ square, Brazil has now 18 natural and cultural assets inscribed on the world heritage list. The last before São Cristóvão was in 2001, when the historical center of Goiás (in the state of Goiás) gained that same status. The Minister of Culture, Juca Ferreira, affirmed that two other candidatures are ready to be submitted: Paraty (in the state of Rio de Janeiro), as a cultural and natural site, and the city of Rio de Janeiro, as cultural landscape.

The nomination of São Cristóvão square as a cultural asset was done three years ago, but Unesco needed more accurate information on its historical value. Besides Brazil, nine other countries also got to inscribe new sites on the heritage list. These are: Saudi Arabia, Australia, India, Iran, Marshall Islands, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, United States and Tanzania.