Arequipa Cathedral

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Facade of the cathedral to the Plaza de Armas
Interior of the cathedral

The Arequipa Cathedral or Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria ( Spanish Basilica Catédral di Santa María ) is a Roman Catholic church in Arequipa in southern Peru . The Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Arequipa is Maria consecrated and carries the title of minor basilica . The church, which occupies the entire north side of the Plaza de Armas, is a central structure of the UNESCO World Heritage Historic City Center of Arequipa .

history

With the foundation of the city of Arequipa on August 15, 1540 by Garcí Manuel de Carbaja, the construction of the cathedral was also decided. Pedro Godínez was commissioned as the first architect in 1544. The building suffered its first setback with the earthquake of 1583. The reconstruction from 1588 onwards was destroyed in 1600 by the eruption of the Huaynaputina and the earthquake of 1604, the region's agriculture also suffered greatly from the ash rain. In 1609 the ruins of the church were elevated to a cathedral with the establishment of the diocese of Arequipa by Paul V. Andrés de Espinoza was commissioned to continue building the cathedral in 1621 and died in 1628. In 1656 the construction of the cathedral was completed.

In 1844, large parts of the cathedral, especially the furnishings, were destroyed by fire. The facade was immediately rebuilt by Lucas Poblete, given its current appearance in the neo-renaissance style . The strong earthquake of 1868 badly damaged the church, it was reconstructed by Poblete. The church was founded in 1940 by Pope Pius XII. raised to the minor basilica. In 2000 the cathedral was declared a World Heritage Site as part of the historic city center. The left bell tower, which fell in the 2001 earthquake, was rebuilt by 2004.

architecture

The three-nave church was built in the various influences of Spanish colonial architecture. It is 85 meters long and 25 meters wide. It was built from volcanic ignimbrite blocks and brick. Its neoclassical facade consists of seventy columns with Corinthian capitals and has two bell towers on the square side.

At the end of the 19th century, the interior of the cathedral, which was not very spectacular, was designed with marble, so the main altar was made of Carrara marble by Felipe Maratillo. A neo-Gothic pulpit was imported from France, which the artist Buisine Rigot had carved from oak in Lille . Furthermore, an organ by François-Bernard Loret from Belgium was installed, which is one of the largest in South America.

Web links

Commons : Arequipa Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catedral Basílica Santa María on gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ Arequipa Cathedral, Peru on franks-travelbox.com
  3. ↑ Historic Center of Arequipa on whc.unesco.org (English)
  4. ↑ Timeline of the Cathedral (Spanish)

Coordinates: 16 ° 23 ′ 53.2 ″  S , 71 ° 32 ′ 11 ″  W.