Visit the Convent of Santa Ana of the Carmelite Order - Necklaces

The Convent of Santa Ana of the Order of Caramel, located in the Town of Colares, is an interesting example of Mannerist architecture in the first half of the seventeenth century and decoration already baroque character.

The monastery has the elevations of the cloister consisted of three round arches that rest on four pillars, two of which, the extremes, the pillars appearad dorsed corner.

Cloister of the first one reaches the Chapel of Sacravia Mannerist taste of Italian-creased, with acoffered barrel vault topped, wall, fascia board, by analtar decorated with scrolls that resemble those of the Jesuit churches. The walls are entirely covered withtiles of two types: "single frame"(white and blue) and "jewels"(yellow and blue on white background).

Chapel of the border Sacravia, lies the sacristy, large living room and well lit, the barrel vault, where there are still mobile where once the brothers have kept the vestments - they belong to four boards painted with are presentation of Santa Ana, San Joaquin, San Francisco and San Antonio, with the center in a semi-circular niche, a sculpture of St. Peter - and a set of paintings on wood by the seventeenth century with scenes from the lives of saints, on a pew. On the walls of the tops, two screens appear Madonna with the Infant Jesus and two brothers (wall fascia) and acrib.

The second cloister cloister is a typical Mannerist two floors - a tripartite elevations by two but tresses whichfall between two round arches supported by a full column major and two built-in (ground floor), balconyand windows that open between the and buttressesthat form the upper gallery which gives to the cells. Asource at the center round the garden that once existed, still confirm the Mediterranean feature of these cloisters that they behave almost as "patios".

In one of the largest galleries of the cloister is situated in the Chapel of St. Peter, with a magnificent gilded altar and lined up approximately half way up the walls, with panels of blue tile painting depicting the apparition of Our Lady to a Carmelite monk seeing himself in the background, a church under construction that will represent, because it does not appear, an allegory to the building of the monastery of Carmo Necklaces. These tiles have been dated to the early eighteenth century.

It is in the upper gallery which is the cell of FriarStephen of purification, transformed into a chapeldedicated to Our Lady.

The convent church, with indoor access to the corridor of the cloister Sacravia which flows into thegreat and the exterior façade, is a temple of nave,with a deep chancel and two side chapels that make up a false transept. It is, in practice, a Latin crosschurch with a barrel vault, which spells out a typologyof architecture characteristic of the Carmelite order, different, however, the Carmelites of the templesbarefoot and in fact a rural monastery. But the veryfront, though already late, and displaying the values ​​decorative baroque, maintains, and in the threegabled windows in the plant is higher, this influence.The program style, however, is crossed by Mannerist figures - note, for example, in the Tuscan pilasters ofthe side chapels and the capstone which runs the ship.

In the chancel, the throne of Baroque altar piece in aperfect arc, the center has the sculpture of Our Lady of Mount Caramel and Child flanked by St. Anne and St. Joachim, and a higher level, between columns with Corinthian capitals, the statues of St. Elias and St. Elysium.