Our Lady of Loreto Chapel - Goliad, TX
Posted by: 
Raven
N 28° 38.888 W 097° 22.966
14R E 658060 N 3170072
Our Lady of Loreto Chapel is one of the oldest extant churches in the United States and has been continually operated by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria, Texas since 1853.
Waymark Code: WMPY4Q
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 11/08/2015
Views: 4
Built between 1775 and 1790, the Chapel of Our Lady of Loreto is situated near the NW corner of the Presidio Nuestra Senora de Loreto de la Bahia (Fort our of lady of Loreto of the bay) in Goliad, Texas. Originally built to give the soldiers stationed at the fort a place to worship, it has been owned by the Catholic Church since 1853 and is operated by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria, Texas.
Mass is still held every Sunday at 5:00 p.m. just as it has been almost continuously since its construction. One of the oldest churches in America, it is also one of the only buildings in existence that has its original "groin vaulted ceiling" in place.
The chapel is about 90 feet long, 27 feet wide and its massive stone walls are four feet thick. The facade has an arched entrance and a massive, square bell tower with a pyramidal roof. Over the door is an octagonal window which lights the choir loft. Above the window, a semi-circular pediment, crowned with a cross, frames a rough stone arched niche containing a statue. In the groin-vaulted interior, a shell-formed doorway leads into a side chapel on the right and on the left is the sacristy, projecting from the outer wall.
The first Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico was signed on this chapel's altar on December 20, 1835.
Type of Church: Chapel
Status of Building: Actively in use for worship
Date of organization: 01/01/1853
Date of building construction: 01/01/1775
Dominant Architectural Style: Spanish Colonial
Associated Shrines, Art, etc.: 1846 fresco behind the altar, by Antonio Garcia (the "Michelangelo of South Texas")
Archdiocese: Galveston-Houston
Diocese: Victoria in Texas
Address/Location:
217 Loop 71
Goliad, TX USA
77963
Relvant Web Site: Not listed
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