São Sebastião

Chapel of Our Lady Help of Christians in Barra do Sahy, São Sebastião — caiçara historic heritage, a fishermen's chapel on the waterfront; visits and masses on the northern coast of São Paulo.

Set between the forest and the calm shore of Barra do Sahy, the Chapel of Our Lady Help of Christians is one of the most delicate testaments of the caiçara devotion of São Sebastião. Built by the neighborhood's own fishing community with handmade clay bricks and the same constructive simplicity that characterizes the coastal chapels of the northern coast of São Paulo, it has occupied a central place in the community life of Barra do Sahy for decades — bringing together families of residents, vacationers and tourists in the religious celebrations that punctuate the neighborhood's calendar throughout the year.

Declared by Municipal Law 943/94 as Historical and Cultural Heritage of São Sebastião, the chapel is part of the route of the municipality's Caiçara Chapels — a unique set of popular religious buildings spread across the coastal neighborhoods, each with its own history, its patron saint and its festival, but all sharing the same essence: built by the hands and the faith of communities that had nothing but clay, stone and an unwavering belief in divine protection over the sea. Strolling before its whitewashed façade is to feel that, behind all the modernity of the tourist coast, São Sebastião preserves its oldest soul intact.

Practical Information

Location: Barra do Sahy — São Sebastião (South Coast)

Devotion: Our Lady Help of Christians

Heritage listing: Municipal Law 943/94

Visiting: Exterior open; interior during masses and religious festivals

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