Located in Pátio da Santa Cruz, in the Boa Vista neighbourhood, the Church of Santa Cruz [Holy Cross] was completed between 1725 and 1732.

Prior to 1654, it was the Igreja Calvinista dos Franceses (Calvinist Church of the French); after 1654, Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Ó (Church of Our Lady of the Expectation); and from 1855, Igreja do Divino Espírito Santo.

The ‘Irmandade do Senhor Bom Jesus dos Martírios’ (Brotherhood of the Good Lord Jesus of the Martyrs), founder of the Igreja dos Martírios, was instituted in 1773 at the Matriz de Nossa Senhora do Rosário da Vila do Recife.

The Catholic Church reserved some dates in its calendar for collective festivals; so that men – temporarily free from their daily work and obligations – could praise the saints, publically express their faith and have some rest and some fun, after they have honoured their religious duties.

Featuring two elegant symmetrical towers, with corner lanterns and an imposing dome, the cathedral of St Peter of the Clerics represents one of the most expressive religious architectural works of Pernambuco. It is Baroque in style, coming from the beginning of the 18th century (when the Brotherhood