La Catedral Metropolitana - Medellín, Colombia
Posted by: DougK
N 06° 15.210 W 075° 33.850
18N E 437592 N 691260
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín is the main church of the Archdiocese of Medellin, home of the Archbishop. It is situated in the on the north side of the Parque Bolivar.
Waymark Code: WMMB9N
Location: Colombia
Date Posted: 08/25/2014
Views: 2
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín, officially Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, is a cathedral church of the Roman Catholic worship dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. It is located in the downtown area of the city of Medellin, in the Villanueva neighborhood on the north side of the
Parque Bolivar. In addition, the temple was formerly called and it is still known but to a lesser extent, Cathedral Villanueva, especially during construction to distinguish it from the
Church of the Candelaria.
The cathedral is the main church of the Archdiocese of Medellin, home of the Archbishop and the Metropolitan Chapter. It is also the headquarters of the "Cathedral Parish."
On 12 June 1948, Pope Pius XII granted the church the liturgical title of Minor Basilica.
The building was designed by French architect Charles Emile Carré (1863-1909), in Romanesque style, with a Latin cross, has three longitudinal aisles, in turn crossed by the transept or cross-ship, and two towers have 66 meters in height at the withers.
It's a great solid brick structure, because for brick construction, approximately 1,120,000 cubic decimeters 8 each (bound together with mortar) were used, which involve a volume of 97,000 cubic meters. Because of its historical value and for being one of the major architectural works in the country, was declared a National Monument in Colombia on 12 March 1982.
It also has a small museum of religious art located in a room adjacent to the basilica, and is not open to the public. The collection includes about 40 paintings (from the XVII, XVIII and XIX) and 15 sculptures (in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries).
(translated from the website)