Paranaguá's oldest standing church, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos de São Benedito dates from the early 18th century and is the visual anchor of the old town: a low colonial church with a single bell tower painted in the deep blue and white typical of Portuguese-Brazilian sacred architecture. Built originally for the city's Black confraternity, it predates the larger churches by decades.
The single-nave interior is modest, with carved wooden altars darkened by time and an unusual painted ceiling. The church is generally only open around mass times, but the exterior and the small square in front are worth the short walk uphill from Rua XV de Novembro.