Church and Convent of Saint Mary of the Angels, Baroque convent and religious art museum in Cabo Frio, Brazil

The Church and Convent of Saint Mary of the Angels is a baroque religious building with stone walls, wooden ceilings, and paintings from the 17th century. The complex contains the main church, a third order chapel, convent ruins, a cloister, and a cemetery.

The foundation stone was laid on 2 August 1686, and the convent was inaugurated on 13 January 1696 by Frei Cristóvão da Madre de Deus Luz. Built at the foot of Morro da Guia, outside the old town, it housed a novitiate from 1707 where novices studied grammar and also taught local children to read, write and count. The last guardian, Frei Vitorino da Santa Felicidade, died in 1872; IPHAN listed the ruin in 1957 and restored it.

The museum displays terracotta sculptures, wooden figures, and sacred art from colonial times. These objects show how people expressed faith through craftsmanship and the objects they used in daily religious life.

The site can be visited during daytime hours and guided tours are available to explore the different areas. It is respectful to dress appropriately when visiting this active religious site.

The chapel preserves original ceiling paintings from the 17th century and an altar with exotic wooden panels depicting the tree of life. These artistic details show how European and Asian influences mixed during the colonial period.