Building on the Carmelite Convent and later church, began in 1586 by enslaved Africans. The convent is located in the historic Pelhourino (whipping post) section of Salvador. The convent has had many uses including: shelter for Bahians waging war against the Dutch invasion of Brazil (1624-25) and starting in the 1970s as a luxury hotel, the first of it's kind in Brazil, to help defray the costs of utilities and preservation of the complex. We initially visited the convent with the intention of lodging there with our upcoming class. It was advertised as a luxury hotel or pousada with 39 rooms. Unfortunately, the hotel closed but we took a tour of the church. The building is in decay but the gilded plasterwork, paintings and statuary are still impressive examples of Portuguese Baroque art and architecture. One room boasts a glass coffin containing a very realistic carved and painted cedar statue of the dead Christ embedded with 2000 ruby stones. The statue was created in 1780 by enslaved artist, Francisco das Chagas, aka Cabra . However the most chilling aspect was below the church. A gated, underground area where enslaved Africans working on the structure were held. It was eerie and otherworldly and a reminder of how Black people were once owned as property with no freedoms, or humane places to live.
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