San Juan Cathedral (Puerto Rico)
The Cathedral of San Juan or officially Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist ( Spanish Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Juan Bautista ) is a Roman Catholic church in San Juan , Puerto Rico . It is located on Calle del Cristo in Old San Juan. Since its construction it has been the cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico, created in 1511 with the patronage of John the Baptist . The cathedral is the oldest church in the country and the second oldest in America after the Cathedral of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic .
history
The church was built in 1521 as a wooden structure with a thatched roof and destroyed by a storm in 1526. It was rebuilt from 1529 and has been in use since 1540. The church consecration took place after the end of construction in 1860 in 1865. The last renovation took place in 1917, with a neo-Gothic facade was created. The cathedral has housed the statue and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Providence as Patroness of Puerto Rico since 1851 . The church was founded on January 25, 1978 at the request of Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez , Archbishop of San Juan, by Pope Paul VI. raised to a minor basilica .
Church building
The neoclassical, three-aisled church with a transept and a round apse is covered by a decorated barrel vault from which the crossing dome rises. Yellow brick and a white marble arch were used as materials. The main altar is dominated by a crucified Christ, on the sides the images of John the Baptist and an image of Mary can be seen. The organ is located in the right transept. The church is equipped with impressive stained glass windows.
The chapels extend from the low side aisles. In the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe a faithful copy of the mantle of St. Juan Diego shown with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, approved and signed by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera , Archbishop of Mexico. It is framed by a frame of gold and pearls and an inscription that reads Queen of Mexico and Empress of America . The chapel of St. Pius contains relics of the martyr Pius set in wax behind glass. The marble tomb of the discoverer and conquistador Juan Ponce de León is in another chapel. The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, unlike other Latin American cathedrals such as Mexico City and Bogotá, is located inside the cathedral. It contains the tabernacle and some old paintings. The shrine is also significant for the blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago, the first Puerto Rican and first lay person born in the Caribbean to be beatified.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Catedral de San Juan on touroldsanjuan.com (Engl.)
- ↑ Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Juan Bautista on gcatholic.org
- ↑ San Juan Cathedral is An Historic Treasure Trove
- ^ Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez. Holy See, accessed May 29, 2018 .
Coordinates: 18 ° 27 ′ 57 ″ N , 66 ° 7 ′ 4 ″ W.