Alto Vista chapel
Coordinates: 12 ° 34 ′ 32.8 " N , 70 ° 0 ′ 39.8" W.
 
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Location of Alto Vista Kapel in Aruba |
The Alto Vista Chapel is a Roman Catholic chapel and place of pilgrimage on the island of Aruba .
location
The chapel is located on the north-western tip of the island, not far from the former village of Noord. The current building dates from 1952, but the site itself has a much longer history as the first church in Aruba was located here. It is dedicated to the mother of the Virgin Mary.
history
The original Saint Ann Church was built in 1750 by the Venezuelan missionary Domingo Antonio Silvestre from Coro . It once housed the island's first Roman Catholic parish.
In 1776 the community was given up due to the plague. The surviving believers gave up Alto Vista . In the decades that followed, when the church was abandoned, the church fell into such disrepair that only ruins remained.
In the 1940s, the Aruban teacher Francisca Henriques Lacle began to raise funds, and after the approval of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Curacao , the small chapel was built on the ruins of the church. The design comes from the English architect JA Hille. Francisca Henrique's Lacle had the statue of the Virgin Mary made in the Netherlands. The statue, which is adorned with a gold crown set with precious stones, was financed in 1954 by donations from several Arubans. After the statue was placed in the chapel, the chapel was consecrated by the bishop. However, this statue was shortly afterwards devastated by an unknown person and had to be replaced with a new one.
The Catholics of Aruba make the pilgrimage from Oranjestad to Alto Vista, around 11 kilometers, on Good Friday. It has taken place annually since the new building was consecrated. Holy Mass is held there every week . In 2009 the chapel got a new coat of paint. Alto Vista Chapel is open to visitors daily.
Web links
- Churches in Aruba
- Johannes Hartog: Aruba, past and present; from the time of the Indians until today. De Wit Verlag, Oranjestad 1961, OCLC 3821787 , pp. 82-86.