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Sao Bento Monastery

In 1602 the name of the Church was changed to N.S. de Monserrat. The monastery, which has been compared to a museum, has a monastic simplicity making it one of the most beautiful architectural complexes in Brazil.

The harmony amongst the various parts built at different stages in history resulted from the rule of the Benedictine school, which by tradition only uses artists and builders belonging to the Order. One exception was the author of the church's and monastery's design, Master Engineer Francisco de Frias da Mesquita, who was comissioned to design them in 1617. He is credited with concise, simple treatment of the frontspiece, which constitutes the oldest part of the compound, built from 1666 to 1669 along with the choir loft.

Austerity and Classicism along with Mannerism are evident in the rigid symmetry, in the vertical and horizontal divisions of the masonry in the center of the facade with its triangular gable, flanked by squared-section towers topped with pyramids. the three full-arch archways, forming a covered portico, belong to the Benedictine traditions of the time. In 1880 the latter were closed with the current German cast-iron gratings.

There is a surprising contrast between the austere purposefully simple appearance of the exterior and the richness of the interior highlighting gilded Baroque engravings with plants motifs and the exuberant Rococo style in the engraving on the high altar, cross vaulting and Chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento.

The doors are huge and beautiful, they are sculptured in bronze by Teixeira Lopes, cast in Bruzy, France, and exhibited at the Paris World Fair in 1889.

In 1775 a new design was commissioned to Major Engineer Francisco Roscio, but the new church building was not dedicated untill 1811, with the Prince Regent himself atending.

New remodeling took place in the mid-19th century, lasting untill 1890, when the church building was rededicated. The only survinving part of Francisco roscio's design is the facade.

Sao Bento Monastery