Dialogues of the Carmelites
Dialogues des Carmélites, FP 159, is an opera in three acts, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, with music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, completed in 1956. Poulenc wrote the libretto for his second opera after the work of the same name by Georges Bernanos. This is a fictionalized version of the story of the Martyrs of Compiègne, Carmelite nuns who, in 1794 during the closing days of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, were guillotined in Paris for refusing to renounce their vocation.
Elin Rombo as Sister Blanche in a 2011 production at the Royal Swedish Opera
The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Roman Catholic Church for both men and women. Historical records about its origin remain uncertain; it was probably founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel in the Crusader States.
Coat of arms of the order
The Prophet Elijah is regarded as the spiritual father of the Carmelite order.
Plan of Mount, Relief view of Mount Carmel and Haifa Bay in the 17th century
Ruins of the first church on the slopes of Mount Carmel