“Brazilian” Mosques

Porto Novo, Benin, Bénin/Benim, former Daomé

Religious Architecture

In addition to the names of Portuguese or Luso-Brazilian origin, there is the built heritage, namely the so-called “Brazilian” mosques of Benin. This is the case of the magnificent Great Mosque of Porto Novo, a sumptous building that embodies the transposition of a large cross-shaped church with a surprising mixture of decorative styles for the Gulf of Guinea. Its construction dates from the early 20th century. Unfortunately it was mutilated due to additions of low quality executed in the 1990s. But despite damage and deterioration over time, it still displays the grandeur and beauty of the structure, moved to its new hierophany. As far as we know it was built between 1910 and 1935, inspired by both the Mosque of Lagos (built by “Afro-Brazilians”) and the baroque churches of Salvador, Bahia, a natural iconographic allusion given the roots of the local Afro-Brazilian community. The deconstruction of the European-style façade, topped by indented patterns, the profusion of frames of several parallel indentations and the presence of small, “loose” columns in the composition (including some fitted into the “voids” of the wall) – are elements that evoke styles along eastern models. The oriental (perhaps Indo-Portuguese) mark can also be found in the carpentry work of exceptional quality, namely in the lateral entrance. Other bays also feature the original woodwork, all masterfully carved. The marks of Islam are very limited: a pair of crescents with six-pointed stars surmounting the upper angle of the pediment and identical loose elements that conclude a series of flower finials along the vertical lines of the “disguised” pilasters that divide the elevation.
In the city of Ouidah, near the remains of the Fort Saint John the Baptist, the Great Mosque is also another piece of architecture (incomplete) featuring a different style of a Brazilian colonial temple. This structure, possibly built in the 1920s, repeats the scheme of numerous openings for ventilation, which is commonly used in Brazilian churches. Although simpler than that of Porto Novo, it is still a very interesting example, even with the apposition of the pair of minarets (note that there are two, characteristic of the classical composition in baroque churches) with a kind of design that draws inspiration in the image of these elements in the Islamic culture of the Middle East. These two examples of religious architecture must be looked at within the framework (still under consideration in terms of thorough research) and consideration of the issue of the spread of Luso-Brazilian culture, taking into account the eventual Portuguese cultural influence, whether directly or indirectly, on the African built heritage. The production of a built heritage like that of the “Brazilian” mosques of Benin, imbued with Portuguese colonial architecture, eventually led, on the contrary, to theories of readings for situations still undeciphered within the framework of Portuguese architecture, including the themes of cultural specificity and the processes of returning migrants. These can perhaps be connected to the phenomenon of the so-called “Empires of the Holy Spirit” particularly in the Azores, where the influence of the eastern model might be found, as in the above- mentioned sacred buildings at Porto Novo. These elements marked this architecture as if it were a memory (which changes over time).