Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico City)
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe ( Spanish Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe ) is a Roman Catholic Church and the National Catholic Shrine of Mexico . The sanctuary with minor basilica status is located on Tepeyac Hill in the Guadalupe district in the northern Gustavo A. Madero district of Mexico City . Here you will also find the old basilica, a parish church, a chapel to commemorate the place of the apparition of Mary and a museum.
Old basilica
After Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to the Indian Juan Diego on the hill Tepepeac in 1531, a representation of Mary was discovered on the Indian's coat. In 1622 a sanctuary was built. For the presentation of this miraculous image , a church was built from 1695, which was completed in 1709 by the architect Pedro de Arrieta. This church, now known as Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey , is characterized by a Doric interior with statues of Juan Diego and Juan de Zumárraga , the first bishop of Mexico City. Pope Benedict XIV gave the church the status of a basilica minor in 1754 , according to other sources Pope Pius X. in 1904. Pope Leo XIII. arranged for the image of grace to be honored by a coronation of Mary . In 1921, anti-church forces committed a bomb attack near the altar. The miraculous image was hardly damaged. In 1966 the basilica with the Golden Rose was opened by Pope Paul VI. excellent. Because Mexico City was built on a former lake, subsidence and earthquakes often occur. The basilica from 1705 was permanently badly damaged as a result. After being closed for a long time, it is used again today.
New basilica
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Between 1974 and 1976 a new church with the name Nueva Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was built on a side adjacent to the old basilica at Atros de las Américas . The architects of the central building with a circular floor plan were José Luis Benlliure, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez , Alejandro Schoenhofer and Gabriel Chávez de la Mora y Javier García Lascuráin. The new basilica was built on the premises that the miraculous image of the Virgin can be seen from every point within the building and that it can accommodate a large number of visitors. Under the 42 meter high dome with a diameter of 100 meters it can hold up to 40,000 people, for which 10,000 seats are available. It is one of the largest churches in the world.
The choir is located between the altar and the churchgoers to make it clear that the priests are also part of the community of believers. On the sides are the chapels of the Holy of Holies and St. Joseph . Nine chapels were built on the upper floor. Under the main floor are the crypts of the basilica with 15,000 niches and another ten chapels. The pilgrims walk through the basement below the miraculous image. The seven entrance doors of the basilica are a nod to the seven gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem to which Christ refers.
The image of grace was transferred here in 1976. The new church received in the same year by Pope Paul VI. also the title of a minor basilica . Pope John Paul II visited the basilica seven times between 1979 and 2002 and awarded it the Golden Rose on the first visit ; the church received a second rose in 2013 from Pope Francis , who visited the church in 2016.
With the many Mexican pilgrims, Guadalupe is one of the most important places of pilgrimage . It is visited by millions of people every year and is the most popular Christian pilgrimage to Rome . The annual highlight is the celebration of Mary of Guadalupe on December 12th.
Web links
- Sanctuary website (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Antigua Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe on gcatholic.org
- ↑ Antigua Basílica (Spanish)
- ↑ Insigne y Nacional Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe on gcatholic.org
- ↑ Pope Francis sends golden rose to Our Lady of Guadalupe. CNA, November 22, 2013, accessed January 17, 2017 .
Coordinates: 19 ° 29 '4.4 " N , 99 ° 7' 2.2" W.