The Third Order of Mount Carmel was founded in Portugal in 1629, following the establishment of the Carmelites in Portugal in 1251. The Third Order of Mount Carmel in Salvador was established in 1636 in Bahia by Pedro Alves Botelho, a wholesale trader; Pedro da Silva, the governor of Bahia and Count of São Lourenço, was its first prior. Construction of the first church structure began in 1644 with permission from the Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; the land was donated by residents of Salvador. The brotherhood was recognized by a papal bull on December 12, 1695 under the name of "Venerável Ordem Terceira da Mãe Santíssima e Soberana Senhora do Monte do Carmo", or the Venerable Third Order of the Holy Mother and Sovereign Lady of Monte do Carmo. The master woodcarver Lourenço Rodrigues Lançarote completed extensive work on the church between 1733 and 1734; he later carved the ornate side altars of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Salvador. The church was destroyed by fire on the night of March 21, 1788. The building was completely destroyed, but numerous images and other artwork were saved or salvaged from the building. The Order began reconstruction of the church in 1788, the same year of the fire, but was delayed by a lack of funds. Work began on the current structure in 1803; its facade in lioz from Portugal was completed in 1855. The interior of the church was richly decorated. It was completed later in the century.
Structure
The Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel sits at the top of Ladeira do Carmo, a street leading north from the main squares of the Pelourinho. It is in close proximity to the Church of the Blessed Sacrament at Rua do Passo. The structure, of brick and stone masonry, is slightly set back from street level and is approached via a large staircase in stone. The structure is built around two courtyards. Its plan is vast in scale and consists of the church and sacristy, an ossuary, a consistory room, and a house of saints. The galleries are glazed.
Exterior
The exterior of the church features a staircase, two towers with a frontispiece and pilasters, doorways of lioz stone. The style of the facade is eclectic; it has both Neoclassical elements of the period and Roccoco elements common to other churches in the Pelourinho. The facade is crowned by a cross and a relief of the coat of arms of the Carmelites. The decorative elements of the towers were considered old-fashioned at the time.
Interior
The floor plan of Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel is typical of eighteenth-century Bahian religious architecture. It has a single nave, side altars, side aisles with tribunes, a chancel, and a sacristy. The sacristy provides access to the ossuary in the lower level. The interior of the church is in the Neoclassical style, common to both church architecture in Salvador and across Brazil in the 18th century. The nave has an organ imported from France. The principal work of the church is cedar carving of Christ inlaid with rubies; the rubies represent 2,000 drops of blood. It is the work of Francisco Xavier Chagas and dates to 1730. The ceiling of the nave features figurative paintings by José Teófilo de Jesus and were executed between 1815 and 1817. The statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the altar is said to be a likeness of Isabel II, daughter of Garcia d'Ávila.
Notable artwork
Apresentação do Menino Jesus no Templo, ca. 1730, José Pinhão de Matos.
Senhor com a Cruz às Costas, attributed to Francisco das Chagas
Senhor Crucificado, attributed to Francisco das Chagas
Protected status
The Church of the Third Order of Mount Carmel was listed as a historic structure by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage in 1938. It is listed in the Book of Historical Works process no. 82.
Access
The church is open to the public and may be visited.
