The Mercês Church

The engineer José Muzilli projected the Mercês church, being approved by the Capuchin superior on February 6th, 1925. The Friars lost no time and on June 26th, 1926, began the foundations of the church. The cornerstone was blessed on September 26th, 1926 by D. Friar João Braga, then the Archbishop of Curitiba.

On September 15, 1929, the archbishop blessed the new and present church of Nossa Senhora das Mercês. The opening party took place on September 29th, 1929.

The belfry of the church with its 52 meters and over a thousand meters above sea level, was inaugurated in 1949 and became an architectural novelty because it was built separately from the church. The tower was inaugurated without the bells, which came 11 years later, cast in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. After many customs difficulties, the bells arrived in Curitiba on April 6, 1952, being blessed by the Archbishop Manuel da Silveira D'Elboux. On June 8, 1952, when Fr. Nereus J. Bassi was the pastor of the church, the bells rang for the first time.

Northwest view of Curitiba from the observatory

This direction presents us the districts of Butiatuvinha, Lamenha Pequena, Mercês, Santa Felicidade.

The first references to Butiatuvinha district appear recorded in the minutes of City Council of March 9th 1782 referring to a bridge to be built over the river Barigui. Around 1931, the region was occupied by farmers and it was crossed by important routes used by drovers. In 1878, the first Italian immigrants occupied 15 lots.

The Lamenha Pequena district was founded in 1876 and it was named in honor of then President of the Province Adolpho Lamenha Lins. The region was divided into 139 lots occupied by 643 Polish settlers. The history of the district, from 1878, blends with the neighboring districts Santa Felicidade and Butiatuvinha.

Mercês is a word originating from Latin and means grace, benefit or protection. The choice of this word to be the district's name comes from the religion of its inhabitants who used to made processions in devotion to Our Lady of Mercês. On June 28, 1926 began the construction of the Mercês Church - completed in 1929.

Santa Felicidade received a large number of settlers from the north of Italy, especially from Veneto and Trento. Today it is an important gastronomical center, with lots of restaurants of Italian cuisine, in addition to many wineries and craft shops. The district was named after a former owner of land in the region in the nineteenth century, the Portuguese Felicidade Borges.