Sorocaba Metropolitan Cathedral, Catholic cathedral in downtown Sorocaba, Brazil

The Sorocaba Metropolitan Cathedral occupies Fernando Prestes Square in the city center and combines spiritual purpose with visible architectural presence. The structure displays Baroque influences throughout, particularly in its bell tower and facade details that shape the downtown landscape.

The cathedral descends from the city's second mother church, founded in 1771 with the arrival from Portugal of the image of Nossa Senhora da Ponte, now on the Baroque main altar of 1771. The first mass in the colonial church was said in 1783. The present building results from a remodelling begun in the late 19th century, and in 1924 Archbishop Duarte Leopoldo e Silva consecrated it a cathedral.

The dedication to Nossa Senhora da Ponte, a title common in Portugal but found nowhere else in Brazil, comes from the image brought from Portugal in 1771, now on the Baroque main altar. The first mass in the colonial mother church was said in 1783.

The cathedral faces Praça Coronel Fernando Prestes in the central district, a short walk from the surrounding streets of the centre. The Archdiocesan Museum of Sacred Art occupies the upper part of the building, though the sources note it is due to move to a house at Largo de São Bento, on Rua Dr. Nogueira Martins. Look up at the tower to see the bell cast in 1940.

The 1940 bell in the tower was cast in Sorocaba by the Samassa brothers, who added 50 kilograms of gold to the alloy to improve its sound. It is one of the few bells in Brazil recorded as containing gold.