El Quinche Basilica
The Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Presentación ( German Basilica Presentation of Mary ) is a Roman Catholic church in El Quinche, east of Quito , Ecuador . The church of the Archdiocese of Quito was consecrated under the invocation of the Presentation of Mary in the temple of Our Lady Mary and bears the title of a minor basilica . The basilica is the center of the sanctuary of the patron saint of Ecuador, Our Lady of Quinche.
history
The sanctuary dates back to the end of the 16th century when the small statue of the Madonna was carved by Diego de Robles as a copy of his statue in the church of Guápulo . She enjoyed great veneration among the indigenous population. In 1822 she was honored as the protector of Ecuador's newly won independence. The Oblate Mission was founded in Ecuador in 1884 by Father Julio María Matovelle and looks after the pilgrimage site of El Quinche, among other places. She initiated the construction plans of the church, which were designed in 1904 by the brother Jacinto Pankiani of the Don Bosco Order based on the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The church was built between 1913 and 1924 by Father Bruning, a German Lazarist . The Virgin of Quinche was canonically crowned in 1943 . The church was founded on May 2, 1959 by Pope John XXIII. raised to the rank of a minor basilica. In 1985 the site was given the status of a Catholic national shrine . On July 8, 2015, Pope Francis visited the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Quinche, from where he gave a speech and met with seminarians, religious and the Ecuadorian clergy.
architecture
The church extends between two parks. The double tower facade rises behind a large forecourt at the main park . The middle part has two levels, in the lower the three gates, the upper one has three windows under an elaborate gable. The two side towers consist of three bodies with rib domes on octagonal top floors. The central nave of the three naves is covered by a barrel vault , the side naves are covered with domes. The crossing dome rises above a drum . The sanctuary, made of limestone and bricks, offers around 2000 square meters of space for a maximum of 3500 worshipers with around 1000 seats.
Pilgrimage
Every year around 800,000 people come to the shrine on a Marian pilgrimage in November . The pilgrimages from Guayllabamba to El Quinche begin on the Thursday before the feast of the Virgin. On the following days, Friday and Saturday nights, pilgrimage routes that are around 60 km long are undertaken from various parts of the city of Quito to El Quinche.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Presentación de El Quinche on gcatholic.org
- ↑ Los padres oblatos de los "Corazones de Jesús y María" (Spanish)
- ^ Coronation of Mary
- ^ Joel Morales Cruz: The Histories of the Latin American Church: A Handbook
- ↑ Sanctuary of El Quinche
Coordinates: 0 ° 6 ′ 39.9 ″ S , 78 ° 17 ′ 46.1 ″ W.