The importance of this gateway lies in the fact that it is the first of a long series of rococo style carved gateways in the Minas Gerais region. The Nossa Senhora do Carmo Church in Ouro Preto, begun in 1766, is a landmark of Minas Gerais' Rococo style. The facade is wavy and has a cornice of semicircular shape, which encompasses a trilobed lobe typical of Rococo. The towers, set back from the façade, are semicircular in shape. The church was originally designed by Manuel Francisco Lisboa, but the facade was reformulated around 1770 by a team that included Francisco de Lima Cerqueira and Aleijadinho. The latter created the cartouche of the doorway, in which the shield of the Carmelites is surrounded by stones and held by two winged angels. The theme of little angels and rocalhas, which had been debuted by Aleijadinho shortly before in the doorway of the Carmo Church in Sabará, would be a constant in the portals designed by the artist. Perhaps the most important of the Minas Gerais churches of this phase is the Third Order of São Francisco Church in Ouro Preto, a landmark of Luso-Brazilian architecture begun around 1765. The exceptional façade of this church incorporates circular towers, set at an angle to the facade and crowned by bulbous domes. The central body of the facade and the recessed towers are separated by a concave segment, creating a beautiful three-dimensional effect. The central body of the facade is delimited by two columns supporting pediment fragments, also with rotating movement. In general, the organization of the facade belongs more to the late Baroque than to the Rococo and has no clear Portuguese antecedents, perhaps inspired by central European engravings. Although the design of the façade is traditionally attributed to Aleijadinho, this is not confirmed by any document. What is indeed of Aleijadinho's authorship is the doorway in soapstone, created in 1774 and which completes the set. On the doorway, the sculptor positioned three tablets with the Wounds of Christ, the Arms of Portugal and, on the upper level, the figure of the Virgin Mary, all intertwined with Franciscan motifs, heads of angels, asymmetric scrolls and ribbons with inscriptions. On each side of the lintel there are two angels: one holds a card and the other a cross. To complete the picture, the window at the top of the facade contains a magnificent high-relief showing