Igreja do Carmo de Salvador, Catholic church in Salvador, Brazil
Igreja do Carmo is a Baroque church in Salvador featuring three large entry doors on its facade, a bell tower, and a single-nave interior. The sanctuary showcases altars extensively covered with gold leaf and intricate wooden carvings.
Founded by Frei Damião Cordeiro and other Carmelites on the site of the old Monte Calvário, the church was built in the 17th century. During the Dutch invasion of 1624–1625 it served as headquarters for the resistance forces, and the Dutch surrendered in the sacristy in May 1625. The convent housed the Conselho Geral da Província da Bahia in 1828 and was listed by IPHAN in 1938.
The interior displays Portuguese influence through its limestone floors, silver main altar table, and ceiling paintings depicting Our Lady and Carmelite Saints.
Some areas of the church are reserved for the religious community, while others are open to the public. The building welcomes both worshippers and tourists and is used for weddings, baptisms and anniversary celebrations. Graduates also come here for photographs for their graduation invitations. A 2017 survey found falling plaster and infiltration in the interior walls.
The convent is one of the largest in the world, with two cloisters and eighty cells. The church's sacristy, in Rococo style, is noted for its beauty, and the main altar table is made of 18th-century silver.
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