History
The devotion to Our Lady of Navigators has its roots in Portugal, where she is considered the patron saint of navigators, fishermen, and sailors praying for a safe return to their homes. [4] They saw the Virgin Mary as their protector during storms and other hazards.
The Bandra Fair in Mumbai has been celebrated for about 300 years, and began as a commemoration of the fortuitous finding of a statue of Our Lady of Navigators to replace one damaged by Arab pirates at Mount Mary Church. [5] Some sixty years later the original statue was repaired and that of Our Lady of Navigators returned to the nearby St. Andrew's Church, Mumbai.
The first statue in South America was brought from Portugal to Brazil. In Brazil, the Procissão no Mar, a religious procession where the image of the Virgin Mary is carried take place in most coastal cities that have harbors, specially the large ones. The Brazilian city of Navegantes is named after Our Lady of Navigators.
The theme of the "Virgin Mary as the protector" was similarly used in The Virgin of the Navigators , painted sometime between 1531 and 1536 by Alejo Fernández. Depicting Mary and Spanish monarchs and explorers, this is the earliest known painting whose subject is the discovery of the Americas. [6] [7] It was painted as an altarpiece for, and remains at, a chapel of the Casa de Contratación in Alcázar of Seville, Seville, Spain.
Chaves is a city and a municipality in the north of Portugal. It is 10 km south of the Spanish border and 22 km south of Verín (Spain). The population of the entire municipality in 2011 was 41,243, in an area of 591.23 km2. The municipality is the second most populous of the district of Vila Real. With origins in the Roman civitas Aquæ Flaviæ, Chaves has developed into a regional center. The urban area or city proper has 17,535 residents (2001).
Fátima is a city in the municipality of Ourém and district of Santarém in the Central Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km2 of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities of which the city of Fátima is the largest.
Vila do Porto is the single municipality, the name of the main town and one of the civil parishes on the island of Santa Maria, in the Portuguese archipelago of Azores. Its nearest neighbor, administratively, is the municipality of Povoação on the southern coast of São Miguel, and it is physically southwest of the islets of the Formigas. The population in 2021 was 5,408, in an area of 96.89 km2 (37.41 sq mi).
Feteira is a rural civil parish in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 1,239, in an area of 5.25 square kilometres (2.03 sq mi).
Fenais da Ajuda is a civil parish in the municipality of Ribeira Grande in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The population in 2011 was 1,131, in an area of 13.36 km2.
São Cristóvão is a Brazilian municipality in the Northeastern state of Sergipe. Founded at the mouth of the Vaza-Barris River on January 1, 1590, the municipality is the fourth oldest settlement in Brazil. São Cristóvão is noted for its historic city square, São Francisco Square, and numerous early colonial-period buildings. The 3 hectares site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.
Penafiel (Portuguese pronunciation:[pɨnɐfiˈɛl]or is a municipality and former bishopric in the northern Portuguese district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion, the population was 72,265 in 2011, in an area of 212.24 square kilometres.
Cachoeira is an inland municipality of Bahia, Brazil, on the Paraguaçu River. The town exports sugar, cotton, and tobacco and is a thriving commercial and industrial centre.
Sabará is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region and to the associated microregion.
The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows is a Roman Catholic church in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal. It is located in Largo das Dores square, in the old town of Póvoa de Varzim, and is part of the parish of Matriz. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, Nossa Senhora das Dores in Portuguese.
The Church of Our Lady of Navigators is a Roman Catholic Marian church located in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is one of the most popular Roman Catholic churches in the city and is the focus of one of the largest processions in the city each year on February 2. The current church was built in 1919 and is devoted to Our Lady of Navigators.
São Francisco do Conde is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. São Francisco do Conde covers 262.856 km2 (101.489 sq mi), and has a population of 40,245 with a population density of 150 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is located 67 kilometres (42 mi) from the state capital of Salvador. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics São Francisco do Conde has the highest concentration of Brazilians of African descent (90%) in Bahia.
Fontes is a civil parish in the municipality of Santa Marta de Penaguião, in the northern Douro region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 835, in an area of 15.67 km².
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows is a 16th-century Roman Catholic church located on the Ilha de Maré in the Bay of All Saints, Bahia, Brazil. The island is administratively part of the city of Salvador. The chapel is dedicated to Blessed Virgin Mary and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia. Its construction is dated to 1552, and is among the oldest existing churches in Brazil. It was part of the sugar plantation of André Fernandes Margalho. The nave of the church is narrow, measuring only 6 metres (20 ft) by 15 metres (49 ft). The church was listed as a historic structure by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute in 1958. The historian Mário Mendonça de Oliveira calls it "one of the gems of old Brazilian religious architecture".
The Parish Church of Our Lady of Purification is an 18th-century Roman Catholic church located in Santo Amaro, Bahia, Brazil. The church is dedicated to Blessed Virgin Mary and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia. Its construction is dated to 1706. The church was listed as a historic structure by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute in 1958.
The Church of the Third Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Our Lady of the Conception of the Mulatto Brothers is an 18th-century Roman Catholic church and former convent in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The church was constructed in a neighborhood formerly occupied by mixed-race and Afro-Brazilian artisans. The exterior of the church has an elaborate roccoco pediment and towers; the interior of the church has a Baroque-style ceiling painting in the nave and neoclassical side altars and chancel. The name of the church, boqueirão, refers to a large slope and trench constructed between the high city and low city of Salvador; it served as a defense of the city against foreign invasion. It was listed as a historic structure by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute in 1951.
The Church of Our Lady of the Conception is a temple of the Catholic Church located on Independência Avenue, in front of the Dom Sebastião Square, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is one of the oldest churches in the city and the one that best preserves its original appearance, containing a rich internal decoration in gilded woodcarving and statuary, besides being a listed property by the City Hall.
The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Sorrows is the oldest standing Catholic temple in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its construction lasted a considerable time and the design of the facade, which was modified even before it was inaugurated, today features an eclectic style. However, the interior is richly decorated with gilded woodwork in a late Baroque style with neoclassical elements and has an important group of life-size Baroque statues of Christ representing the cycle of the Passion.
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