The overwhelming interior of the São Bento monastery.
The Benedictine order, which was the first to settle in the new Portuguese world, founded this, at first sight, sober monastery with its beautiful symmetrical towers and whitewashed façade in classical style. At first glance, since its rich interior is in clear conflict with the simplicity of the exterior. Columns, pilasters, vaults and ceilings go wild in a typical carioca horror vacui, turning the monastery into the maximum expression of Brazilian Baroque, which is characterized by its profuse decoration in gold leaf. The work of a lifetime of several Brazilian artists who took nearly 70 years to decorate the interior of the monastery.
Consecrated to the Virgin of Montserrat, one of the black virgins of Europe, her effigy is precisely one of the greatest attractions of São Bento, the work of Frei Domingos da Conceiçao. Among the other treasures of the monastery, the silver candle holders that once illuminated its interior; the statue of Saint Scholastica , twin sister of San Benito and whose name alludes to the fact that she is devoted to theological study, also the work of Frei Domingos da Conceiçao; baroque doors that give access to the ship and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament , the most sacred part of the church, where the consecrated host is kept, the body of Christ for Catholics, and where the most characteristic features of the so-called Rio rococo are found.
Map: See map
Address: Rua Dom Gerardo, 68 Rio de Janeiro See map
Telephone: 00 55 21 2206 8100
Schedule: Every day from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.