Object description

The Church of the Seminary of Belém ) is a church and former school in Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil. The seminary was founded in 1686 by the Jesuits and was the order's first school in Brazil outside of the city of Salvador. The seminary eventually was home to eight priests and between 100 and 140 students. The Jesuits held an equal number of slaves of African origin at the seminary. The seminary complex fell into ruins after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Brazil in 1759. The church is the only remaining structure of the seminary and is dedicated to Our Lady of Bethlehem. It retains many elements of both 17th-century Portuguese colonial church architecture. The Church of the Seminary of Belém was listed as a historic structure by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute in 2005.