Temple of Nos Signore de Monta

The temple of Nossa Signoret de Monta, or the temple of Our Lady on the mountain in Olinda, is one of the oldest churches in the city. The temple is located on the territory of the ancient monastery of the Benedictine Order.

The modest temple was built in the middle of the XVI century on a small mountain on the outskirts of the city of Olinda. It is believed that the construction of the temple was completed in 1535. The two-storey white building was built by Benedictine ascetics. The Church of Our Lady on the mountain is devoid of the magnificent decoration so inherent in other church buildings of the Baroque era, but we should not forget that this was a monastery building designed to remind the brothers of the impermanence of everything. The only decoration of the snow-white temple is a high baroque pediment, framed by marble curls supporting a majestic cross.

In 1595, the temple became the cathedral of the Benedictine Order in Recife and Olinda. Miraculously surviving in the era of the Dutch-Brazilian wars, the temple of Nossa Signore de Monta continues to be an architectural monument, one of the few preserved church complexes in old Olinda.