The Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel (full name in ) is an old Carmelite church which served as cathedral (Sé) of Rio de Janeiro from around 1808 until 1976. During the 19th century, it was also used successively as Royal and Imperial Chapel by the Portuguese Royal Family and the Brazilian Imperial Family, respectively. It is located in the Praça XV square, in downtown Rio. It is one of the most important historical buildings in the city.
History
Carmelite Church in the Colonial era
When the Carmelite Order arrived in Rio in 1590, they settled in a small chapel near Guanabara Bay. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the order built a large convent and renovated the chapel, referred to as the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo (Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel). Building of the present church started around 1761, and was probably directed by Portuguese architect Manuel Alves Setúbal. The church was consecrated in 1770, still with the façade unfinished. The inner decoration, in gilded woodwork in Rococo style, was carved after 1785 by master Inácio Ferreira Pinto, one of the main sculptors of 18th-century Rio de Janeiro.
The Church is adjacent to the Carmelite Convent; the religious services of the Carmelites housed in the convent took place in the neighboring Church. In the 18th century, another church, the Church of the Third Order of the Carmelites was built immediately next to the already existing Carmelite church. The three buildings thus formed a Carmelite complex, integrated by the Carmelite Convent, the Carmelite Church (occupying the central position among the three buildings), and the Church of the Carmelite Third Order. The Vice-Regal Palace, the seat of the Portuguese colonial administration of Brazil (subsequently renamed as Royal Palace and Imperial Palace), stood in the square facing the Church and the complex of Carmelite religious buildings.
Royal Chapel and Cathedral
In 1808, prince regent John, the future King John VI of Portugal and his court arrived in Rio, fleeing Napoleonic troops which had invaded Portugal. Several of the buildings of Rio started being used by the Portuguese court, including the old Vice-Regal Palace (now known as Paço Imperial), the Carmelite Convent (in which the Prince Regent's mother, Queen Maria I of Portugal, was housed) and the nearby Carmelite Church, which was converted into a Royal Chapel and soon afterwards into the new Cathedral of Rio.
As Royal Chapel, the then Cathedral was a witness to several important events in this period. The Funeral Rites after the death of Queen Maria I in March 1816, and the Te Deum following the solemnity of the Acclamation of her son and heir, John VI, as King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (6 February 1818) are among them. Prince Pedro, future Emperor of Brazil as Pedro I and Archduchess Leopoldina of Austria received the nuptial blessing in the chapel on 6 November 1817, having previously entered into marriage by proxy.
Imperial Chapel
With the declaration of the Independence of Brazil in 1822 and the foundation of the Empire of Brazil, the Cathedral church became the Imperial Chapel. The façade was completed around this time by Portuguese architect Pedro Alexandre Cavroé, who added a pediment in Neoclassical style to the church.
Important events in the Imperial Chapel include the coronations of Emperor Pedro I (on 1 December 1822) and his successor, Pedro II (on 18 July 1841); the signing of the Constitution of the Empire of Brazil, followed by the Emperor's oath to the Constitution and by a Te Deum (on 25 March 1824); the bestowal of the Nuptial Blessing upon Emperor Pedro I and his second wife, Empress Amélia (on 16 October 1829; the couple having previously entered into marriage by proxy); the bestowal of the Nuptial Blessing upon Emperor Pedro II and his wife Empress Teresa Cristina (on 4 September 1843; the couple having previously entered into marriage by proxy); and the wedding of Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil with Gaston, comte d'Eu (on 15 October 1864).
The Coronation Masses of Emperors Pedro I and Pedro II, in 1822 and 1841, respectively, remain, to this day, the only two Christian rites of Coronation to have taken place in the South American continent, and both were held in the Imperial Chapel.