Church

Machava, Maputo, Mozambique

Religious Architecture

The church is located in a small village near Maputo and linked to it by the railway. It is a remarkable work of symbolic architecture, described thus by Pancho Guedes: “it has a plan like a crucifix. It is a church with crosses at the tops and entrances [...] This life ship guarded by four huge crosses, with a side periscope watching over a sea of trees, and a round-mouth belfry cross ringing in all directions, is a house of rolling walls, corners, crevices and concavities, where old men lie in the sun, and are used for hide and seek games, for lovers, for groups of young people” (Arquitectura Portuguesa, no. 2, 1985, p. 51). The volume of the nave and the belfry are elements of high plasticity and outline creativity.

• José Manuel Fernandes