You enter this cathedral through a dark tunnel before emerging into a vast circular hall flooded with coloured light beneath columns shaped like praying hands.
About Catedral Metropolitana
The cathedral was designed by Oscar Niemeyer as part of Brasilia, the futuristic capital built from scratch in the late 1950s and inaugurated in 1960 to move Brazil's seat of government inland. Its structure was completed and the stained glass added over the following years. Brasilia's bold modernist architecture, much of it by Niemeyer, earned the city UNESCO World Heritage status.
In brief
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia is one of the masterpieces of the modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer, a striking circular church defined by sixteen soaring curved concrete columns that sweep upward like hands reaching to the sky. Built for Brazil's purpose-designed capital, it is among the most recognisable religious buildings of the 20th century.
A Crown of Concrete and Light
Niemeyer designed the cathedral so that the main worship space sits below ground level, with worshippers entering through a dark tunnel before emerging into a vast, light-filled circular nave. Above, sixteen hyperboloid concrete columns, said to evoke hands raised in prayer, support a roof of stained glass that floods the interior with blue, green and white light. Suspended angels float overhead, completing one of the most luminous and dramatic church interiors anywhere.
The Experience
You descend through a deliberately dark passage and emerge into the soaring, glass-roofed circular nave, where coloured light pours down between the great concrete columns and suspended angels hang in the air. The contrast of dark approach and radiant interior is the heart of Niemeyer's design. The cathedral's sculptural exterior, ringed by reflecting pools, is equally striking from outside.
Why It Matters
The Metropolitan Cathedral is one of the defining works of Oscar Niemeyer and of 20th-century modernist architecture, a centrepiece of the UNESCO-listed capital Brasilia. It embodies the visionary, futuristic ambition with which Brazil built an entirely new capital deep in the country.
Why Visit
One of Oscar Niemeyer's masterpieces, a luminous modernist cathedral in Brasilia where sixteen concrete columns and a stained-glass roof create a dramatic interior.
✦ Photo Gallery
Best Season
🌤 Brasilia is best in the dry season, from roughly May to September. The cathedral is open year-round; midday brings the strongest coloured light through the stained-glass roof.
Quick Facts
Best time to visit
Brasilia is best in the dry season, from roughly May to September. The cathedral is open year-round; midday brings the strongest coloured light through the stained-glass roof.
Getting there
In Brasília, Brazil; reach Brasília first, then continue to the site.
Location
Brasília, Brazil
Type
attraction
Insider Tips
- 1
Enter through the tunnel to experience the dramatic reveal.
- 2
Look up at the suspended angels and stained-glass roof.
- 3
Midday gives the most vivid coloured light inside.
- 4
It is part of Niemeyer's UNESCO-listed Brasilia.
