St. Michael's Church, Nkembo

The Church of Saint Michael in Nkembo is a wide, low-gabled church in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, on the west coast of Africa. It is known for its tall wooden columns carved with scenes from the Bible, and for colourful decoration, including a large fresco on the front. The main wall decoration is the work of the Gabonese artist Zéphyrin Lendogno.

Instead of stone arches and stained glass, the church has a central nave held up by more than thirty carved pillars of hard Kevazingo wood. It is one of Libreville's most visited churches and a showpiece of Gabonese art. It can seat about 1,000 people in the main nave and about 2,000 more outside.

Carved columns

The pillars show scenes from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Sources give different counts, from 31 to 35, so the church is best described as having over thirty. French Wikipedia says most wall decorations are by Lendogno, while the altar, the Christ on the cross, the lecterns and the statues of Mary and Saint Michael were made by the sculptor Juan Ndong from Equatorial Guinea.

Other local reports credit Lendogno with the carved pillars and the altar too, so the exact division of work is not fully clear.

The site and its story

The Holy Spirit Congregation has used the site since 1934. Residents once said the land was haunted, so a priest turned it into a sports field for school pupils before the Church took it over. A chapel was built there, as a peaceful way to chase the evil spirits away.

That idea of victory over the demons gave rise to the big fresco at the main entrance, which shows Christ's victory over evil. The first stone was laid in 1949, and the church was consecrated on 2 October 1964.

Growing and Sunday songs

In the 1960s Father Gérard Morel enlarged the church so more people could attend Mass comfortably, and he added the decorations, including the wooden columns. In 1994 a hall like an amphitheatre was begun behind the altar, and it was finished in 2001.

The Sunday morning Mass is lively, with songs in Mpongwè. A 2008 report warned that weather was damaging the unprotected carvings.

On the globe

The model shows the wide church with its low gable, carved wooden columns and colourful mosaics.