Where a residential complex had previously stood, the Brotherhood of Saint Peter purchased the land in 1719 and began construction of the Church of Saint Peter of the Clergy, completing it between 1781 and 1784. The Baroque-style project by Manuel Ferreira Jácome envisioned an architectural complex in which the church is surrounded by some of the old houses located in front of the temple and by a new set of buildings, forming a courtyard.