The Benedictines have been on this site in downtown São Paulo since 1598. The current monastery was rebuilt between 1910 and 1922 in a German Beuronese style — heavy gold leaf, deep Byzantine-influenced fresco, dark wood — and the interior is one of the most extravagant church spaces in Brazil. The basilica's mosaics and the gilded high altar are the highlights; the choir of black-cowled monks chants Gregorian mass at 10 AM on Sundays and 7 AM on weekdays, with the public welcome.
The monks have made bread, sweets, and beer in their workshop for over a century. The bakery shop next to the church sells the famous bread, fruitcakes, and a brown ale that is the only Benedictine beer brewed in the Americas. It is one of the more incongruous and worthwhile stops in central São Paulo.