La Merced Basilica (Santiago de Chile)
The Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Merced ( German Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy ) is a Roman Catholic church in Santiago de Chile , the capital of Chile . The Church of the Mercedarians was consecrated to Mary , the Mother of God , under the invocation of Mary from the ransom of prisoners . The church of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile bears the title of a minor basilica and is protected as a historical cultural asset.
history
The Mercedarians came to Santiago de Chile with Pedro de Valdivia in 1541 and first settled in 1548 with the help of Governor Rodrigo de Quiroga at what is now the Church of San Francisco. But while they were accompanying a conquest to the south, their land fell to the Franciscans. Instead, they received the site of today's church through Juan Fernández de Alderete. The first church was built in 1566 from clay bricks and lime arches with a cypress roof, it collapsed as a result of the Santiago earthquake in 1647. In 1683 the church was rebuilt as a brick building, but it was again destroyed by the Valparaíso earthquake in 1730.
The construction of the third church began in 1736 using the preserved walls on the old floor plan. The church was completed in 1760 and consecrated in 1795. From 1795 to 1799, Joaquín Toesca, an Italian architect, continued to furnish the church as it is today.
The church was founded in 1922 by Pope Pius XI. was the first Chilean church to be raised to the rank of minor basilica. In 1977 it was declared a national monument.
In 1982, Mario Pérez de Arce y Asociados carried out an external restoration that changed the tiles and towers and repainted the church.
architecture
In its beginnings, the monastery consisted of a church and four cloisters, of which only one remains today and serves as a museum.
The three-aisled basilica has a central nave with a barrel vault without windows and side aisles with flat ceilings. In between there are marble-clad columns and arches supported by them.
The Mercedarian coat of arms can be seen on the neoclassical brick facade with columns and gable, the preserved cloister is on the right and is used as the museum of the basilica. The towers were only built from brick and wood in 1859 and 1885.
Church furnishings
The main altar was made of wood and bronze. It shows a polychrome picture of the Madonna of Mercy, donated by Emperor Charles V. The baroque pulpit from the 18th century is decorated with human figures. To the left of the main altar is the altar of the Blessed Sacrament made of Carrara marble, dominated by an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and framed by two large, adoring angels.
The side altars of the left nave show the pictures of a number of canonized Mercedarians: Pedro Nolasco , Pedro Armengol, Ramon Nona to and Serapio. In some cases, trompe l'oeil decorations have been painted on the wooden surface of the walls, which resemble altar canopies. In the right nave, under the tombstones, there are images of the Holy Family , Teresa de Los Andes and Our Lady of Lourdes , the latter with a careful stucco decoration that resembles a grotto. Along the cornice of the central nave hang a series of medallions commemorating the saints and eminent figures of the Mercedarians. Two more were added to the restoration, one for Cardinal José María Caro , who was not a Mercedarian but lived next to the monastery, and for Cardinal Carlos Oviedo Cavada , Archbishop of Santiago, who was a member of the Mercedarian Order. Because of its importance, the church became the burial place of wealthy families, for example the grave of Rodrigo de Quiroga and his wife Inés de Suárez are still preserved.
literature
- Revista Basílica de la Merced. Provincia Mercedaria de Chile. 2001.
- Raymundo Arancibia: Parroquia de la Arquidiócesis de Santiago 1840-1925 , Santiago 1980.
- O. Ortega: Guía de Arquitectura en Santiago . Publicación FAU. U. de Chile, Santiago 1976
- Archivo de oficina de Monumento Nacionales. Dirección de Arquitectura. MOP
- Father Alfonso Morales Ramírez: Historia general de la Orden de La Merced en Chile 1535-1831, impreso en Chile, 1983.
- P. Diego Alberto Rojas y S .: La Basílica de La Merced, Santiago de Chile, 1923.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Merced on gcatholic.org
- ↑ La Merced Basilica on turistik.cl
Coordinates: 33 ° 26 ′ 18 ″ S , 70 ° 38 ′ 48 ″ W.