The church is dedicated to Bartholomew the Apostle and belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia.

[5] Bartolomeu Gato de Castro began construction a church for the parish in the middle of the 17th century.

Residents of the settlement financed the construction of the church; the parish also received 70,000 cruzados from the Portuguese crown.

A conflict between residents of a Tupinamba settlement to the south of Maragogipe occurred in 1655; the son of Gato de Castro was killed by an arrows to the chest.

[4] The Parish Church of Saint Bartholomew is located at the highest point of a small peninsula that sits on the Paraguaçu River in the interior of the Baía de Todos os Santos.

The Parish Church of Saint Bartholomew consists of a rectangular complex of masonry and lime of "large proportions".

The belfries have pyramid pediments covered with tiles and azulejos, a feature found in other churches in Salvador and the Recôncavo region.

The simple rectangular pediment of the façade is similar to that of the Old Cathedral of Salvador (Antiga Sé) and Church of Saint Antony of Barra, both constructed or significantly altered in the 16th century.

[3][6][7] The church has an ornate, square stone portal with pilasters decorated with an intertwined geometric pattern, simple capitals, and a cornice and panels with floral designs.