The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Assumption [1] (Portuguese: Catedral Metropolitana Basílica Nossa Senhora da Assunção),[2] also called in Portuguese Catedral da Sé de Mariana, is a Catholic cathedral-basilica, the seat of the Archdiocese of Mariana.

A small chapel made of mudbrick was then erected by the Portuguese miner António Pereira Machado.

Work on the current church began in 1711, when Governor Antonio de Albuquerque declared the camp to be a town.

A first expansion took place between 1713 and 1718, commissioned by the master Jacinto Lopes Barbosa who reused the existing structure, which became the sacristy.

In 1734 the building had already been quite damaged by the start of new works on the facade and tower under the responsibility of the teacher António Coelho Fonseca.