In the second half of the seventeenth century, a major reconstruction project began in the Old Cathedral.
  This was a period when many colonial religious buildings were redone in a larger, more grandiose scale.
Unfortunately, documents that record the definitive date or architect for this project do not survive, however it is probable that the building was designed in Portugal, given the attention that the central government gave to the work of the diocese.
The cathedral was large for the period, with a facade flanked by two towers oriented towards the bay.
  The main structure was completed by the early eighteenth century, but the internal decorations (altars, floors, paintings, ceiling, etc.)
were only completed in the 1730s.

Historical records suggest that throughout the eighteenth century, the cathedral building suffered from neglect.
 In 1761 with the Jesuit expulsion from Brazil, their school and church in the Terreiro de Jesus became vacant.
 In a letter dated 1765, King Joseph I offered to Archbishop D. José Botelho de Matos the former Jesuit Church as a temporary site until the Cathedral could be restored.
In the second half of the seventeenth century, a major reconstruction project began in the Old Cathedral.  This was a period when many colonial religious buildings were redone in a larger, more grandiose scale. Unfortunately, documents that record the definitive date or architect for this project do not survive, however it is probable that the building was designed in Portugal, given the attention that the central government gave to the work of the diocese. The cathedral was large for the period, with a facade flanked by two towers oriented towards the bay.  The main structure was completed by the early eighteenth century, but the internal decorations (altars, floors, paintings, ceiling, etc.) were only completed in the 1730s.
Historical records suggest that throughout the eighteenth century, the cathedral building suffered from neglect.  In 1761 with the Jesuit expulsion from Brazil, their school and church in the Terreiro de Jesus became vacant.  In a letter dated 1765, King Joseph I offered to Archbishop D. José Botelho de Matos the former Jesuit Church as a temporary site until the Cathedral could be restored.
Old Cathedral of Salvador