Cirio de Nazare Date Calculator (Belem, Brazil)

Círio de Nazaré date (Belém do Pará)

In Belém do Pará, the Círio de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré always lands on the 2nd Sunday of October. No other Catholic procession in the world is bigger. More than 2 million faithful turn out to walk the 3.6 km route that links the Catedral da Sé to the Basílica Santuário de Nazaré. The story goes back to 1700, when the caboclo Plácido came upon the image of Our Lady of Nazareth at the Murutucu creek.

At the heart of it all sits the Berlinda, the ornate float that carries the saint's image. It is hauled along by a 400-meter Corda, a sacred rope that thousands of promesseiros grip as they fulfill their vows. UNESCO added the Círio to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013, and the CNBB (Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil) counts it among the most important Marian devotions in Brazil.

Applications

Planning a trip to Belém, organizing religious tourism, building the parish calendar, forecasting hotel and airline bookings, cultural research, and the event production handled by the Diretoria da Festa.

FAQ

Why the 2nd Sunday of October? The Bispado set that date in 1793 so it would fall after the harvest, just as the rainy season begins in Pará.

Is the Círio a holiday in Belém? Yes. It counts as a municipal holiday, and across Pará it is a state ponto facultativo. Transit runs heavier and roads get closed.

What is the Trasladado? It is the Saturday-night procession that runs from the Basílica to the Catedral, the day before Sunday's main Círio. Smaller crowds, but the devotion is every bit as strong.