São Paulo Cathedral Facts for Kids

This page is about the Roman Catholic cathedral. For the Orthodox cathedral, see Catedral Metropolitana Ortodoxa.

Quick facts for kids São Paulo See Metropolitan Cathedral Catedral Metropolitana de São Paulo

Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Province	Archdiocese of São Paulo
Year consecrated	1954
Status	Active
Location
Location	São Paulo, Brazil
Architecture
Architect(s)	Maximilian Emil Hehl
Architectural style	Neo-Gothic
Groundbreaking	1913
Completed	1967
Specifications
Length	111 metres (364 ft)
Width (nave)	46 metres (151 ft)
Dome height (outer)	30 metres (98 ft)
Spire height	92 metres (302 ft)

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Assumption and Saint Paul is a very important church in São Paulo, Brazil. People also call it the See Cathedral. It is the main church for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo.

The current leader of the church is Cardinal Dom Odilo Pedro Scherer. He became the archbishop in 2007. The building we see today was started in 1913. It took 40 years to build. The cathedral was finished just in time for São Paulo's 400th birthday! It is built in a Gothic revival style. This means it looks like old European Gothic churches. Some people think it's the fourth largest Neo-Gothic cathedral in the world.

History of the Cathedral
About the Building
Images for kids
See also

History of the Cathedral

Cathedral square in 1880. The old Cathedral of São Paulo is the church on the right.

The story of the São Paulo Cathedral began a long time ago. In 1589, people decided to build a main church in the small village of São Paulo. This first church was finished around 1616. It stood where the current cathedral is today.

In 1745, São Paulo became a diocese. This meant it needed a bigger, more important church. So, the old church was taken down. A new one was built in the Baroque style. This church was finished around 1764. It served as the São Paulo Cathedral until 1911, when it was also taken down.

The current cathedral was started in 1913. It was designed by a German architect named Maximilian Emil Hehl. He planned a Neo-Gothic building. Building work was slow. The new cathedral finally opened in 1954. This was just in time for São Paulo's 400th anniversary. The tall towers were not yet finished then. They were completed later, in 1967.

After many years, the cathedral needed a lot of repairs. From 2000 to 2002, it was fully restored. Workers fixed the building and added many decorative spires. They even found the original building plans from 1912. This helped them restore the cathedral exactly as it was meant to be.

About the Building

The São Paulo Cathedral is the biggest Catholic church in the city. It is 111 meters long and 46 meters wide. Its two tall towers reach 92 meters high. The church covers an area of 5,300 square meters. Inside, it has space for 8,000 people.

The cathedral is shaped like a Latin cross. It has five aisles inside. A large dome sits over the center of the church. This dome is 30 meters high. While most of the building is Neo-Gothic, the dome looks like the Renaissance dome of the Cathedral of Florence in Italy. The cathedral is located in a famous spot called Praça da Sé, or "See Square."

More than 800 tons of beautiful marble were used to build it. The pillars inside are decorated with sculptures. You can see Brazilian plants like coffee branches and pineapples. There are also native animals like armadillos.

The Crypt

The Crypt of São Paulo Cathedral.

Below the main altar is a very large crypt. It's like an underground church! The crypt is decorated with marble sculptures. These sculptures show stories from the Bible, like the story of Job.

The crypt holds the tombs of all the bishops and archbishops of São Paulo. Two very important historical figures are also buried here. One is Father Diogo Feijó. He was a regent of Brazil a long time ago. The other is Cacique Tibiriçá. He was a leader of the Guaianás tribe. In the 1500s, he helped the first Jesuits settle in the area. His help made it possible to found the city of São Paulo.

In 2004, the remains of Bartolomeu de Gusmão were moved to the crypt. He was a Jesuit from Colonial Brazil. He was famous for inventing early designs for lighter-than-air airships.

The Organ

The cathedral has a huge organ. It was built in 1954 by an Italian company. It is one of the biggest organs in Latin America. This amazing instrument has five keyboards. It also has 329 stops and 120 registers. There are 12,000 pipes! The ends of the pipes have beautiful hand-carved designs.

The Carillon

The east tower of the cathedral holds a carillon. A carillon is a musical instrument made of many bells. This one has 61 bells. They were made in the Netherlands in 1959. It is the largest and heaviest carillon in Central and South America.

Window Frames

Team responsible for sculpting the window frames. Angelo Palici is second from left, and João Baccaro is fifth from left.

The frames around the windows are made of granite. They were created by a stonework company called Palici-Baccaro. This company was started by families of Italian immigrants in the 1940s. The main partners were Angelo Palici and João Baccaro. Their company later became Baccaro Marbles and Granites.