The sanctuary sits on a hill at the western edge of town, a white-and-blue church set behind a sloping forecourt and a great double staircase that leads up to it. The whole composition is striking from below, but what gives it world standing are the twelve figures arranged along the terraces of that staircase: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Habakkuk, and Nahum, carved by Aleijadinho in soapstone between 1800 and 1805.
Each is over life-size, weathered to a soft grey, and posed mid-gesture — a hand raised, a scroll unfurled, a head turned in argument. Walk slowly past them in sequence and the staircase becomes a piece of theatre. The figures lean out into the open air, watch each other across the terraces, and frame the view of the town below. Inside the church, an elaborately painted ceiling and gilded altars are the work of other Minas Gerais masters of the same period.
Below the forecourt, six small chapels (the Passos do Senhor) line the path that pilgrims still walk on Holy Week. Each houses a tableau of polychrome wooden figures depicting one scene from the Passion of Christ, also carved by Aleijadinho and his workshop. The Last Supper chapel is the most famous. The site has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1985.