German architect Maximilian Emil Hehl designed the Neo-Gothic cathedral. Groundbreaking was in 1913 on the site of the demolished colonial cathedral, and construction proceeded under Duarte Leopoldo e Silva, the first archbishop of São Paulo. It was inaugurated in 1954 with the towers unfinished, and they were completed in 1967.
It is a Latin cross church with a five-aisled nave, 364 feet (111 m) long and 151 feet (46 m) wide. The towers rise 302 feet (92 m). The dome, inspired by the Renaissance dome of Florence Cathedral, reaches about 98 feet (30 m) over the crossing.
The cathedral holds 8,000 people and used more than 800 tons of marble. The article says construction ended four decades after 1913, which conflicts with 1967.
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