Candelária Church in Rio de Janeiro began as a small chapel around 1609, though the article calls the story of its sponsors quasi-legendary. A new building was begun in 1775 under the Portuguese military engineer Francisco João Roscio. It was inaugurated in 1811 while still unfinished, and the dome was completed in 1877.
The facade is Baroque with Neoclassical elements, in dark granite against whitewashed walls. The plan is a Latin cross with a three-aisle nave and a dome over the transept. The dome and its eight statues are white Lioz stone carved in Lisbon and shipped to Brazil. The interior was redesigned in Neo-Renaissance style after 1878.
The dome was the tallest structure in the city when finished. The church has been National Historic Heritage of Brazil since 1938.
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