This slightly lopsided church was Rio's cathedral for more than a century and a half. That's why locals still call it the Antiga Sé, the old cathedral.
1From friars' chapel to royal chapel
The Carmelites arrived around 1590 and were given a small chapel here by the beach. The present church was begun in 1761 under the master builder Manuel Alves Setúbal and consecrated in 1770. Everything changed in 1808: when the royal family arrived, Queen Maria I moved into the convent next door, and Prince João made this church, the closest to the palace, the Royal Chapel and then the cathedral.
2Coronations and weddings
It was here, on 6 November 1817, that Prince Pedro received Archduchess Leopoldina of Austria, whom he had already married by proxy. Under the Empire, the church hosted the coronations of Pedro I and Pedro II and, in 1864, the wedding of Princess Isabel to the Count of Eu. Two great musicians worked here: the Rio-born priest José Maurício Nunes Garcia and the Portuguese composer Marcos Portugal.
It lost its cathedral status in 1976, when the new cone-shaped cathedral on Avenida República do Chile was completed.
3What to look for
- The three ground-floor portals, the only original part of the façade, in Lisbon's Pombaline style.
- The tower, rebuilt between 1905 and 1913 and crowned by a bronze Immaculate Conception.
- If you go in, the gilded Rococo carving by Inácio Ferreira Pinto, begun in 1785.
Documented
It was the Royal Chapel from 1808 and the cathedral until 1976; it hosted the coronations of Pedro I and Pedro II and Princess Isabel's wedding in 1864.
Sources and credits
Portuguese Wikipedia, «Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Antiga Sé»; IPHAN, listed heritage records; Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (official website).
Photos:
- Tower and façade of Rio de Janeiro's Old Cathedral: Antonio Donioli, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Nave of the Antiga Sé covered in gilded Rococo carving: Wilfredor, CC0.
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