Is the Mucugê cemetery Byzantine?

The Santa Isabel cemetery in the town of Mucugê is one of the greatest artworks of the Chapada Diamantina. But why is it called the Byzantine cemetery? Are there really traces of Byzantine architecture? Or is it just our need to validate chapadeira art by leaning on an outside reference?

To answer these and other questions, we invited Nélia Paixão, an architect and former Iphan technician in the 1990s, as well as a resident of the town of Mucugê.