Círio De Nazaré

Lore & Background

The Círio de Nazaré traces its roots to Portugal, where devotion to Our Lady of Nazareth is observed on September 8 in the town of Nazaré. In Brazil, the devotion was introduced in the 17th century by Jesuit priests in Pará. According to tradition, in 1700, a caboclo named Plácido found a small wooden statue of Our Lady of Nazareth near the Murutucu stream in Belém. The statue repeatedly returned to its original location after being taken to his home, which was interpreted as a divine sign, leading to the construction of a hermitage and later the Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth.

The first Círio in Belém occurred in 1793, originally starting from the Government Palace. In 1882, the procession's starting point moved to the Our Lady of Grace Cathedral. The event was initially held between September and November without a fixed date, but in 1901 it was set for the second Sunday of October. The Berlinda, a carriage carrying the statue, was introduced in 1882, and the rope used to pull it was introduced in 1855 to help devotees pull the carriage more easily, often in muddy conditions. The Círio was designated intangible cultural heritage by IPHAN in 2004 and recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013.

Reader's Guide

The Círio de Nazaré holds profound significance as a major expression of Catholic faith in Brazil, drawing approximately two million participants annually to Belém. Its origins date to 1793, rooted in Portuguese colonial traditions and local legends involving a miraculous statue. The event's recognition by UNESCO in 2013 underscores its cultural importance, not only as a religious gathering but as a symbol of identity for the people of Pará and Brazilian migrants who replicate the procession in other regions. The Círio's evolution—from an evening pilgrimage with candles to a morning procession, the introduction of the Berlin and rope, and the creation of a Pilgrim Image in 1969—reflects adaptations to local conditions and community needs. Its designation as intangible cultural heritage by IPHAN in 2004 highlights its role in preserving traditions, while the annual crafting of a new mantle and the Image Lowering Ceremony (since 1969) demonstrate ongoing devotional practices. The Círio's legacy extends beyond Belém, with processions in cities like Macapá, Rio Branco, and Manaus, maintaining connections through faith. The event's peaceful nature and massive scale make it a notable global phenomenon, with historical milestones such as reaching one million participants in 1991 and two million in 1992.

Did You Know?

• The term 'Círio' derives from the Latin word 'cereum', meaning 'large candle'.
• The Círio rope was introduced in 1855 to help devotees pull the Berlinda more easily, often in muddy conditions.
• In 1918, the Círio was held on the last Sunday of October due to the Spanish Flu pandemic.
• The Círio de Nazaré in Belém, first held in 1793, is the oldest documented Círio in Brazil.

The Discovery That Founded a Faith

In the early eighteenth century, Jesuit priests introduced devotion to Our Lady of Nazareth in the province of Pará. Yet the story that would define Belém's spiritual identity belongs to Plácido, a caboclo of mixed Portuguese and indigenous heritage. Around 1700, he found a small, weathered wooden statue of the Virgin—roughly twenty-eight centimeters tall—near the Murutucu stream, in the area now behind the Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth of Exile. He brought the figure home, cleaned it, and set up a humble altar. But the statue kept returning to its original spot, a sign he read as divine instruction. He built a small hermitage there, and word spread through the neighborhood. Even when Governor Francisco Maurício de Sousa Coutinho ordered the image transferred to the city palace chapel, it vanished and reappeared at Plácido's shrine. The devotion gained official standing, and the Basilica that stands today was erected on the ground of that first hermitage. In 1773 the archbishop placed Belém under the Virgin's protection, and in 1774 the statue's return from a restoration trip to Portugal was greeted with a grand procession from the port to the sanctuary—the first Círio, observed every second Sunday of October ever since.

A Pilgrimage Born in Portugal

Long before the devotion reached Brazil, its roots stretched back to the early centuries of Christianity. According to the Legend of Nazaré, a small dark-colored wooden statue depicting the Virgin Mary seated and nursing the Child Jesus originated in the Holy Land. It traveled from Nazareth through Mérida in Spain and arrived in the Portuguese town of Nazaré in 711. In the twelfth century, the knight D. Fuas Roupinho, having survived a serious accident while pursuing a deer on horseback, built the Chapel of Our Lady of Nazaré in 1182 as an act of gratitude, constructing it over the cave where the statue had been kept. In 1377, King Ferdinand commissioned a larger temple, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré, to house the image. Every September, the Portuguese gather at the Sítio da Nazaré to honor the Virgin, and the main pilgrimage, the Círio da Prata Grande, departs from Mafra carrying a standing image of the Virgin in a Berlin—a form that echoes the one venerated in the Brazilian celebration. The word Círio itself derives from the Latin cereum, meaning large candle, a nod to the torchlit processions that once marked these journeys through the night.

Shifting the Procession: Adaptation and Tradition

The Círio has evolved in practical ways while preserving its spiritual core. Originally an evening or nighttime pilgrimage—a detail still visible in the use of candles—the procession was moved to the morning in 1854 after heavy rainfall the previous year made the nighttime route treacherous. The starting point also changed: until 1882 the procession departed from the Government Palace, but that year Bishop Antônio de Macedo Costa, in agreement with Province President Justino Ferreira Carneiro, relocated the departure to the Our Lady of Grace Cathedral. The famous Círio rope, used to pull the Berlin carrying the Virgin's image, was introduced in 1855 when flooding from Guajará Bay in the Ver-o-peso area made the route impassable; it was officially adopted in 1868. From 1922 to 2004 the rope took a U-shape with two rows for men and women. Since 2005 it follows a linear format with five stations resembling a Catholic rosary, measuring four hundred meters long and two inches in diameter. Each year a new mantle is crafted for the statue based on the festivity's theme, a tradition maintained since Plácido's time, first by Sister Alessandra of the Daughters of Saint Anne Congregation and later by her student Ester Paes Rocha and successive designers.

A Heritage Beyond Belém

Today the Círio de Nazaré draws approximately two million participants, making it the largest Catholic event in Brazil and one of the largest peaceful gatherings of its kind in the world. Its cultural significance was formally recognized in 2004 when the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) designated it intangible cultural heritage, and again in 2013 when UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site. The devotion has spread well beyond Belém. Processions are held in other Northern Region cities such as Macapá, Rio Branco, and Manaus, as well as in various other Brazilian regions where migrants from Pará maintain a connection to their spiritual homeland through acts of faith. Interestingly, the oldest Círio in Brazil is not in Belém but in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, dating to 1630. After a stormy night, fishermen discovered a miraculous image of the Virgin among rocks separating the sea from a lagoon; the image reportedly returned to those rocks multiple times, prompting religious authorities to build a chapel later replaced by the current Parish Church. The Saquarema Círio was officially recognized as Brazil's oldest during a visit by the Belém pilgrim image on September 23, 2009.

Gallery