The Golden Chapel
"Capela Dourada"
located in the Street "Rua do Imperador
in the Convento dos Franziscanos"
of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
- Hotel Pousada Peter
- Art Gallery,
Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil
The Golden Chapel "Capela Dourada": Located in the street Rua do Imperador,
Borrough "Bairro de Santo Antônio", Recife Centre, "Centro do
Recife".
Constructed in 1697, the Golden Chapel
"Capela Dourada" of the Third Order of the Franciscans is
one of the most
expressive and most represantative
baroque buildings of the brazilian
churches. The inside of the Capela Dourada is disguised with red gold from the epoch of the prosperity.
Noteworthy also are the murals, consisting of Portuguese tiles, are the painting and the gilded carving work. Visiting value in the auxiliary building, the
Monastery of the Franciscans, is the museum for Christian Art, "Museu Franciscano de Arte Sacra". Attendance times: Monday until Friday of 8: 00 to 11: 00 o'clock
a. m. and of 14: 00 to 17: 00 o'clock p. m.; Saturday of 8: 00 to 11: 30
o'clock a. m..
São Francisco
Perhaps the most enticing of the buildings in central Recife is the
seventeenth-century Franciscan complex known as the
Santo Antônio do Convento de São Francisco,
on Rua do Imperador – a combination of church, convent and museum.
Outside, you’ll be besieged by crowds of beggars displaying sores
and stumps, but negotiate your way through to the entrance of the
museum (Mon–Fri 8–11.30am & 2–5pm, Sat 2–5pm), pay the nominal fee,
and you’ll find yourself in a cool and quiet haven. Built around a
beautiful small cloister, the museum contains some delicately
painted statues of saints and other artwork rescued from demolished
or crumbling local churches. But the real highlight here is the
Capela Dourada (Golden Chapel),
which has a lot in common with the churches in the old gold towns of
Minas Gerais. Like them, it’s a rather vulgar demonstration of
colonial prosperity. Finished in 1697, the Rococo chapel is the
usual wall-to-ceiling-to-wall ornamentation, except that everything
is covered with gold-leaf. If you look closely at the carving under
the gilt you’ll see that the level of workmanship is actually quite
crude, but the overall effect of so much gold is undeniably
impressive. What really gilded the chapel, of course, was sugar cane:
the sugar trade was at its peak when it was built, and the sugar
elite were building monuments to their wealth all over the city.
Please
mouse-click on the pictures for close-ups !
Olinda
- The Description of the Town
The
Description
of the twenty Churches
of Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil