Carlos Luís Ferreira da Cruz Amarante (Braga, 1748 - Oporto, 1815) 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. Amarante is buried in the Trindade Church in Oporto.