These Field Notes describe the Greek and Russian Orthodox Christian presence in the State of Espirito Santo, Brazil. In 1987, a Greek Orthodox Church was built and consecrated in Vitoria, Espirito Santo. In 2016, the Russian Orthodox Church announced proposals to build its first monastery in Brazil in Fundao, part of greater Vitoria, Espirito Santo. The church and proposed monastery are under the respective jurisdictions of Constantinople and Moscow.

Espirito Santo (which means Holy Spirit in Portuguese) is a small state on Brazil’s Atlantic coast. It is sandwiched between Salvador da Bahia (to the north) which was Brazil’s first capital, and the more internationally famed Rio de Janeiro (to the south). Brazil’s Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE) estimates that the State of Espirito Santo has a population of just over 4 million people. Vitoria, the capital city of the State, forms part of an urban conglomeration with an estimated population of 1.776,239…

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