The construction date of the Chapel of Apipucos is unknown. What is known, through documents, is that it already existed, in the same place it can be found today, in 1645, under the invocation of Our Lady Mother of God, and then of Our Lady of Sorrows.
During the Dutch invasion it was completely pillaged, having its images, paraments, implements and furniture destroyed by the Dutchmen.
Apipucos was one of the first populations to have a chapel with a resident priest. Up until the 20th century, the old house where its chaplain lived could be found behind the chapel.
Between 1870 and 1908, the chapel did not possess its own chaplain, but there was Mass on Sundays.
The chapel was rebuilt and expanded through various reforms, among which the one from 1887, paid by local residents. In 1889, new repairs and conservation were made and, in 1906, there was a big work conducted by Dr. Alfredo Lisboa.
There is little left from the original building. Some old walls were preserved, but almost everything was replaced or modernized. The main altar, which had a golden niche with the image of the patroness, was removed due to termites, and a new one, made of masonry, was built.
The Chapel of Apipucos has been the apple of some local families’ eyes, such as the Needham, the Clarkson, the Lorimer, the Brotherhood, the Burle and the Dubeux, the Tasso, the Aquino Fonseca, the Freyre.
In 1917, with the arrival of the Jesuit priests, the chapel bloomed under the direction of Father Thomas Digman, who was its chaplain for 29 years. With his death in 1946, the chapel remained under the care of the Jesuit priests from the Várzea district.
With the arrival of the Dutch Vincentian Priests, in 1950, the chapel became one of the most active in the fulfillment of its religious mission.
Today, the chapel is under the care of the Salesian Priests.
Recife, 1 July 2003
(Updated 25 august 2009)
sources consulted
FREYRE, Gilberto. Apipucos: que há num nome? Recife: Fundaj, Ed. Massangana, 1983.
GUERRA, Flávio. Velhas igrejas e subúrbios históricos. Recife: Prefeitura Municipal, [19--]. p. 187-190.
PEREIRA DA COSTA, Francisco Augusto. Arredores do Recife. 2.ed. autônoma. Apresentação e organização de Leonardo Dantas Silva. Recife: FJN, Ed. Massangana, 2001. p. 28-32.
how to quote this text
Source: GASPAR, Lúcia. Capela de Apipucos (Recife, PE). Pesquisa Escolar Online, Joaquim Nabuco Foundation, Recife. Available at: <http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar>. Accessed: day month year. Ex: 6 August. 2009.