Ouro Preto - Nossa Senhora do Pilar

Rua do Carmo runs west into Praça Monsenhor Castilho, with the church of Nossa Senhora do Pilar (1711-33). The plain taipa walls conceal a sumptuous interior, in the decoration of which some 800kg/1760lb of gold and silver were used. In 1736 Francisco Antônio Pombal, Aleijadinho's uncle, changed the ground-plan into an irregular decagon better adapted to the architectural forms of Baroque. The woodcarving in the beautiful choir chapel was the work of Francisco Xavier de Brito (1747 onwards). The church also contains three paintings by Ataíde depicting the Road to Golgotha.