Rio de Janeiro Cathedral

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian is the main Catholic church of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a giant concrete cone in the middle of the city, 75 meters tall. The church is dedicated to Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of Rio.

It was designed by the architect Edgar de Oliveira da Fonseca in a modern style based on the pyramids of Mayan architecture. It was built from 1964 to 1979 and replaced a series of older churches that had served as cathedrals since 1676. The outside is 106 meters across and the inside 96 meters, so it feels more like a stadium than a church.

How big is it?

The cone is 75 meters high. Inside, the floor covers about 8,000 square meters, and there are 5,000 seats. If everyone stands, it can hold up to 20,000 people. Four tall stained-glass windows rise 64 meters from the floor to the ceiling, in strips that meet in a cross-shaped skylight at the top. Colored light from the glass fills the space during the day.

What was there before?

Before this building, the seat of the archdiocese had been moved from one church to another. The most notable one was the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Ancient See, built in the 18th century and declared the cathedral in the early 19th century. It is now called the Old Cathedral. The new cathedral is often called the New Cathedral and sits in the center of the city. It is home to the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro.

On the globe

The model shows a huge concrete cone with four stained-glass strips rising to a cross-shaped skylight. Look for the cone rather than a tower.