San José City Landmarks

The Five Wounds Portuguese National Parish was founded in 1914, but the construction of an actual church did not begin until 1916. The Five Wounds Portuguese National Church was completed in 1919 and was constructed using various materials such as structural wood and stained glass windows from the Pavilion of Portugal, a temporary structure from the 1915 San Francisco Panama Pacific Exposition. The materials used for the Pavilion of Portugal actually originated in Portugal and were shipped to California to build the temporary expo structure. The main altar’s murals were painted in the 1920s by Italian immigrant, Luigi Sciocchetti, who later became the church’s pastor.