Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Santiago de Chile)
The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help ( Spanish Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro ) is a Roman Catholic church in Santiago de Chile , the capital of Chile . The church was built by the Redemptorists and, as is widespread among them, is consecrated by the perpetual help of the Blessed Mother Mary under the invocation of Our Lady . The church of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile bears the title of a minor basilica .
history
The foundation stone of the church was laid on December 12, 1904. It was designed in neo-Gothic style in France by two Redemptorists, the architects Gustave Knockaert, known as "Brother Gerardo", and Hubert Boulangeot. The Belgian Gustave Knockaert (1845–1928) had already designed churches in Madrid, Paris, Mulhouse and Les Sables-d'Olonne. Construction of the church began in 1906, but was soon interrupted after the Valparaiso earthquake on August 16, 1906. The construction was reinforced and executed in reinforced concrete. The Redemptorist brother Joaquín Chardin helped with the new construction, worked on the pointed arches as characteristic elements of Gothic architecture and also designed the door of the sacristy made of holm oak and the shield of the congregation, which was carved at the entrance.
The pillars of the church were brought as monoliths in ox carts from San José de Maipo and finished on the construction site. Parts of the other stone cladding were also delivered from San José de Maipo.
Due to the economic crisis of saltpetre and the First World War, the import of materials was hampered. In fact, eight of the 28 windows and one rose window could only be provided with transparent glass.
In 1919 the basilica was given a pontifical ministry chaired by the Archbishop of Santiago, Crescente Errázuriz . The church was consecrated in 1926 by the Apostolic Nuncio Benedetto Aloisi Masella and received in the same year by Pope Pius XI. awarded the rank of minor basilica.
architecture
The basilica can accommodate up to 3,000 people over a length of 68 meters and a width of 30 meters. The entrance facade is divided into three levels with a rose window in the middle and is surmounted by two towers, the third rises up as a crossing tower . The tallest needle towers reach 55 and 65 meters. The basilica has five naves , of which however were only the three inner completed, closed the other two remain and are used as a corridor or basement. A gallery runs around the second floor. The main altar was made in Belgium from marble and bronze and finished in Chile with linguewood and American oak. In the middle, a picture of the Virgin of Eternal Help was placed, a replica of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help , which is in the Redemptorist Church of the Savior and St. Alfonso Liguori in Rome. The altars of the saint and founder Alfonso Maria de Liguori and Our Lady of Mount Carmel were designed by Brother Huberto with bas-reliefs by the Spanish artist José Soria. There are also confessionals in the basilica made of American oak from the Neuville Frères workshop and a French organ that has been declared a historical monument.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro on gcatholic.org
- ↑ Neogótico en Madrid. Retrieved January 29, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Socorro para el santuario. January 8, 2005, accessed January 29, 2019 .
Coordinates: 33 ° 27 ′ 32.8 " S , 70 ° 40 ′ 32.2" W.