This map shows the territory of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belem do Pará. The diocese was founded in 1720, following its separation from the Diocese of São Luis do Maranhão, and was centered in the city of Belém, the capital of Pará state. The map shows the extent of the diocese under Bishop Miguel de Bulhões e Souza (1706-78), who served as a bishop in Singapore before coming to Brazil in 1749. Bulhões oversaw the construction and consecration of a new cathedral in Belém as well as the reopening of the local seminary. A priest of the Dominican order, Bulhões served in Brazil during the period in which the Jesuits were expelled from the country. In 1760, he was appointed to a new diocese in Portugal, and left Brazil on the same boat as the departing Jesuit priests.