EnglishHuíla Mission
Chibia [São Pedro da Chibia/João de Almeida], Huíla, Angola
Religious Architecture
This mission was founded in 1881at the initiative of father Duparquet. It aimed at expanding missionary action to the territories northward of Cunene, is regarded as the key-mission in the southern section of Angola and one of the most important assemble of religious buildings in the province, being classified as a Historical Monument (dispatch no. 20/95, of 18.04). This ensemble of considerable scale displays a revivalist classical model: the façade with its two towers flanking a main body with a straight pediment and, at the crossing of the nave, an octagonal cupola; the surrounding two-storey buildings have long galleries with arcades of semi-circular arches. Despite the recent rehabilitation works in terms of its outer appearance, the church and the main attached building are in need of a more profound intervention.