The church is dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua and constructed in the Baroque style with a Rococo frontispiece.

The convent and church fell into ruin by the end of the 19th century; Archbishop Jerônimo Thomé da Silva allowed a commission to demolish and sell the contents in 1915; it lacked the funds to demolish the church, but sold its contents to José Mariano Filho in 1916.

Frei Antonio de Santa Maria Jaboatão conceived the idea of a convent removed from the city of Salvador.

Batista considered moving the order to Maragogipe, but began construction of a large-scale convent and church on the Iguape site.

The commission lacked the funds to demolish the church and sold the property to José Mariano Filho in 1916.

Mariano Filho removed or sold the church images, azulejos, floors, linings of the nave, furniture in jacaranda, and lavabo in lioz; elements of the church that were removed to Solar Monjope, his residence in Rio de Janeiro were lost with its demolition in the 1970s.

The balustrades in carved jacaranda of the church and convent were transferred to the entrance of the Federal Ministry of Education building in Salvador.

[3][4] The Convent and Church of Saint Antony is located on the Iguape estuary of the Paraguaçu River far from the city center of Cachoeira.

Access to the church and convent was by river for much of its history; roads to the community of Iguape were only constructed later.

The pedestal is of sandstone and richly decorated in stylized floral, shell, seashell, tropical fruit, and mask motifs.

The design of the church is similar to that of the convents of Carmo, Graça and Desterro, in Salvador, all constructed in the same period.