The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black People — Igreja do Rosário dos Pretos — is one of the most historically charged buildings in São Luís. Built in the 18th century by and for the enslaved African population of the city, it was the spiritual centre of the Afro-Maranhão community for generations. The church was constructed with what little resources enslaved workers could gather in their limited free time.
The building is modest in scale compared to the grand baroque churches of the Portuguese elite, but its interior has an emotional weight that those churches lack. The blue and white tile work was done by skilled craftsmen who were themselves enslaved. The church is still active and serves the same community — descendants of those who built it — that it has served for three centuries.