It's one of the oldest churches in Rio and in Brazil -- construction began in 1657 -- and has one of the largest and most important art collections in Brazil. It's the symbol of the Portuguese Baroque style in the country: the facade is very plain and ordinary, but the interior is absolutely breath-taking. Among those who contributed to the decoration of the interior, which was completed only in 1773, were Manuel and Francisco Xavier de Brito, two leading Portuguese sculptors and woodcarvers. Both of them had very similar styles - the "Brito style" - with decorative forms which influenced Aleijadinho and other masters of Brazilian Baroque. The ceiling of the choir has the earliest trompe-l'oeil painting in Brazil (1732-36), the work of Caetano da Costa Coelho, who later painted the ceiling of the nave in the same style.
It is a true gem hidden in downtown Rio and unknown to most of us cariocas born and raised in Rio. The church remained closed for a number of years and recently reopened -- surprisingly -- without much fanfare. Since then only a handful weddings have taken place there... Ours being one of them!
