Igreja do Carmo, Porto

Igreja do Carmo is a Porto church raised for the Carmelite Third Order. Between 1756 and 1768, architect José Figueiredo Seixas shaped it in the rococo manner, with lavish, animated decoration. Take in the carved façade: Saint Anne, this church’s patron, appears prominently, while Elijah and Elisha occupy niches beside the entrance.

Along the side wall, a vast tile tableau traces the Carmelite Order’s beginnings and Mount Carmel. Silvestre Silvestri designed it, Carlos Branco painted it, and workshops in Vila Nova de Gaia produced it in 1912. Igreja do Carmo and the adjoining Carmelite church became National Monuments together on the third of May 2013. A remarkably narrow dwelling separates the pair, created because regulations barred churches from being built directly together.