Carlos Amarante

Who was Carlos Amarante?

Carlos Luís Ferreira da Cruz Amarante was an important Portuguese engineer and architect.

Amarante's father was musician in the court of the Bishop of Braga. He began pursuing an ecclesiastical career, but left the seminary when he was 23 years old to marry Luísa Clara Xavier. After that he pursued a career in engineering and architecture.

Artistically, Amarante led the transition between the late Baroque-Rococo architecture of northern Portugal to modern Neoclassical architecture. He was particularly influenced by the many Neoclassical buildings of English inspiration that were built in Oporto during the 18th century. The church of the sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte, built after 1784 to a design by Amarante, is considered one of the first Portuguese churches in Neoclassical style.

Amarante is buried in the Trindade Church in Oporto.