La Merced Basilica (Quito)

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Side facade of the basilica
Interior of the basilica

The Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Merced ( German  Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy ) is a Roman Catholic church in Quito , the capital of Ecuador . The monastery church of the Mercedarians was consecrated to Mary , the Mother of God , under the invocation of Mary from the ransom of the prisoners . The church of the Archdiocese of Quito bears the title of a minor basilica .

history

The previous church Sa Juan de Letrán from the 16th century was built on an Inca temple and fell victim to an earthquake in 1698. Construction of the current church of the Mercedarian Monastery began in 1701 according to plans by José Jaime Ortiz, the tower was completed in 1736 and the basilica was consecrated in 1747.

In 1778 the church was seriously damaged by an earthquake. During the reconstruction by 1789, a 5700 kilogram bell was cast on site for the bell tower as the largest in the city.

The church was founded in 1920 by Benedict XV. the first church in Ecuador to be raised to the rank of minor basilica. The basilica is since 1978 part of the UNESCO - World Heritage of the Old City of Quito , which received this status as the first Old Town.

architecture

The three-aisled basilica has a crossing dome with a lantern as the central point of the barrel vault in the nave and transept. There are more domes above the chancel and the aisles. Except for the entrance portals with stone cladding, the entire facade is designed in white. On the left side of the entrance there is a 47 meter high, square bell tower. The baroque interior is richly decorated with carved and gilded altars, paintings and ornaments on all wall and ceiling surfaces. The main altar was carved and built by Bernardo de Legarda . In the sacristy and inside the church there are several works by the artist Victor Mideros from the beginning of the 20th century.

Web links

Commons : Basilica la Merced  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Merced on gcatholic.org
  2. ^ Iglesia de la Merced
  3. ↑ La Merced Church in Quito on ecuador.com (Engl.)
  4. ^ Peter Korneffel: Ecuador, Galapagos Islands . Lonely Planet full text in Google Book Search.
  5. ↑ City of Quito on whc.unesco.org (Engl.)
  6. ^ Ben Westwood: Ecuador & the Galápagos Islands . Moon full text in Google Book Search.

Coordinates: 0 ° 13 ′ 5.5 ″  S , 78 ° 30 ′ 49.3 ″  W.