Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar

The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar also referred to as the Sao Joao del Rei Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic church in Sao Joao del Rei, Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is an incredible representative of Brazilian colonial art, which incorporates a rich ornament in gold, art work and statues, being below the protection of the Institute of National Artistic Patrimony of Brazil. The history of the basilica is closely connected to the records of the city and starts at the beginning of the 18th century, while there has been built among 1703 and 1704 a chapel of mud protected in straw at the top of the Morro da Forca committed to the Virgin of the Pillar.

Around this chapel, the primary of the town, fashioned a camp. In 1709 the chapel changed into burned down during the Emboabas War. A few years later the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament, based in 1711 and reserved for the rich white men of the city, desired to erect a new church to replace the authentic chapel that turned into destroyed, but placing it in the center of the town. The license for the construction become granted the 12 of September 1721.