Tourist Attraction in Recife:
Capela Dourada

The Golden Chapel, also known as the Chapel of the Novices, is a chapel of the Franciscan Order located in the city of Recife, within the complex of buildings of the Convent and Church of St. Anthony, which includes the Church of the Order Terceira de São Francisco and the Franciscan Museum of Sacred Art. The construction of the chapel was the result of an initiative by the Brothers of the Venerable Terz'Ordine of San Francesco dei Chagas, created in Recife in the sixteenth century. Since many of its members were rich, they decided to erect a chapel for the novices of the Order. The cornerstone was launched in 1696 by Captain General Caetano de Melo Castro, being the master builder Captain Antònio Fernandes de Matos. The chapel was opened to the public in 1697, with a Mass presided by the Reverend Commissioner Fra Girolamo of the Resurrection, although it was not yet completed, remaining standing until 1724. Born in a period of great prosperity in the region, over time the chapel has received improvements and rich Baroque decoration, and its current condition dates back substantially to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its name derives from the large quantity of gold used in the covering of the exuberant wooden sculpture that virtually covers all the spaces of the walls, the altars and the ceiling. Numerous important artists from the region participated in its construction and decoration. The ceiling with the external arches, the cruise and the main chapel, as well as the auxiliary furniture, are the work of Luís Machado, of the seventeenth century. The ceiling is divided into caskets for oil paintings panels with different scenes. The main chapel, with a central niche for a large crucifix and side niches for San Cosimo and San Damiano, was sculpted by Antônio Martins Santiago in 1698 and was gilded by Manuel de Jesus Pinto in 1799. Along the side walls there is a series of panels of tiles, smaller altars with important statues, of which stand out that of Santa Isabel, that of Christ tied to the column, and that of Senhor dos Passos (with a rock image of real dimensions with inlaid rubies) and dozens of panels paintings depicting saints and personifications of the virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity and Constance. We sadly confess that not even the patiently refined Archives of the Order were able to make us advance the names of the artists who had worked on these marvelous paintings. We only know that these paintings were made between 1699 and 1700 and the panels of the lining between 1701 and 1702. From 1776 to 1777 the covering of the chapel was repaired, next to the benches, which represented the arrest and death of the Franciscan martyrs , whose torturers, curiously, their faces canceled and scratched, on an unknown date, by the indignation of some devotee. In the sacristy there are also furniture carved in rose wood, dating back to 1762, as well as a marble table and a washbasin imported from Estremoz. Word processing: Giovambattista Spagnuolo (Myooni)

Attractions in Recife