Rio de Janeiro - São Bento

Rua 1 de Março crosses Avenida Presidente Vargas and continued to the Morro de São Bento, just above the harbor. On this hill are the church and monastery of São Bento, one of the finest Benedictine complexes in Brazil. The original plan of 1617, by the military architect Francisco Frias, underwent some alteration in the second half of the 17th century, when the church, originally aisleless, was enlarged by the addition of eight side chapels. The finest artists of the Order were engaged in the decoration of the interior. The exuberant carving was mainly the work of a monk named Domingos da Conceição, who was also responsible for the figures of St Benedict and St Scholastica on the high altar. The choir chapel has silver-work by Mestre Valentim and fourteen paintings by Ricardo do Pilar, a monk who was the finest Benedictine painter of colonial Brazil. His masterpiece, the "Senhor dos Martírios" ("Christ of the Passion"), is in the sacristy of the monastery.