Catedral de Santa María la Menor
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial Zone
of Santo Domingo
is dedicated to St. Mary of the Incarnation. It is the oldest cathedral in the Americas
, begun in 1512 and completed in 1540. The Cathedral once held the title Primate of the Americas
, it has since been the only Archdiocese to have held this title.
It is located between Calle Arzobispo Merino and Isabel la Católica, next to Columbus Park in the city of Santo Domingo de Guzman.
The Cathedral is fronted with a golden-tinted coral limestone façade, the church combines elements of both Gothic
and Baroque
with some lavish plateresque
styles as exemplified by the high altar chiseled out of silver. There is also a treasury which has an excellent art collection of ancient woodcarvings, furnishings, funerary monuments, silver, and jewelry.
in 1504 and its construction began in 1512 under the leadership of Bishop Fray García Padilla. The arrival of Bishop Alexander Geraldini in 1519 motivated the construction of a temple of greater solemnity, so it was decided to build the current church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1521. The construction was carried out by Luis Moya, according to plans designed by Alonso Rodriguez, of Seville
, Spain
. By 1523, the construction achieved continuous progress until his its consecration in 1541. On February 12, 1546, at the request of Emperor Charles V, Pope Paul III
granted the status of Metropolitan Cathedral and Primate of the Americas
. It was also the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, which bore the aforementioned title of Primate. In 1920, Pope Benedict XV
designated the Cathedral a Minor Basilica in his Inter Americae.
. There are twelve side chapels, three aisles and a nave
. The roof of the nave is pitched, while the aisles have cross vaulted ceilings. The length of the basilica is 54 metres (177.2 ft), the width of each of the three aisles is 23 metres (75.5 ft), the height to the vaulted ceilings is 16 metres (52.5 ft) and the total area is 3000 sqm. All of the side chapels were not included in the original footprint of the building, rather they were appended with time.
The Cathedral also has a treasury containing retablos, paintings, old woodwork, furniture, sculptures and tombstones. There are also pieces that were involved with the funeral proceedings of several colonoal archbishops. Interestingly, there is a tombstone of Simon Bolivar, one of the ancestors of the Liberator Simon Bolivar
. Also of note, the remains of Christopher Columbus
were once housed at the Cathedral, before their final resting place in the Faro a Colon.
Ciudad Colonial (Santo Domingo)
Ciudad Colonial is the first settlement made by Christopher Columbus and the Spanish explorers in the New World. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Colloquially known as "Zona Colonial" , Ciudad Colonial is part of the original Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the origin...
of Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
is dedicated to St. Mary of the Incarnation. It is the oldest cathedral in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, begun in 1512 and completed in 1540. The Cathedral once held the title Primate of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, it has since been the only Archdiocese to have held this title.
It is located between Calle Arzobispo Merino and Isabel la Católica, next to Columbus Park in the city of Santo Domingo de Guzman.
The Cathedral is fronted with a golden-tinted coral limestone façade, the church combines elements of both Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
and Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
with some lavish plateresque
Plateresque
Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" , was an artistic movement, especially architectural, traditionally held to be exclusive to Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in the late 15th century, and spread over the next two centuries...
styles as exemplified by the high altar chiseled out of silver. There is also a treasury which has an excellent art collection of ancient woodcarvings, furnishings, funerary monuments, silver, and jewelry.
History
The Cathedral was consecrated by Pope Julius IIPope Julius II
Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...
in 1504 and its construction began in 1512 under the leadership of Bishop Fray García Padilla. The arrival of Bishop Alexander Geraldini in 1519 motivated the construction of a temple of greater solemnity, so it was decided to build the current church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1521. The construction was carried out by Luis Moya, according to plans designed by Alonso Rodriguez, of Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. By 1523, the construction achieved continuous progress until his its consecration in 1541. On February 12, 1546, at the request of Emperor Charles V, Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
granted the status of Metropolitan Cathedral and Primate of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. It was also the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, which bore the aforementioned title of Primate. In 1920, Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV
Pope Benedict XV , born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, reigned as Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922...
designated the Cathedral a Minor Basilica in his Inter Americae.
Architecture
The first noticeable feature of the structure are the solid limestone walls and three doors, two of which are gothic and the third main door which is plateresquePlateresque
Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" , was an artistic movement, especially architectural, traditionally held to be exclusive to Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in the late 15th century, and spread over the next two centuries...
. There are twelve side chapels, three aisles and a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
. The roof of the nave is pitched, while the aisles have cross vaulted ceilings. The length of the basilica is 54 metres (177.2 ft), the width of each of the three aisles is 23 metres (75.5 ft), the height to the vaulted ceilings is 16 metres (52.5 ft) and the total area is 3000 sqm. All of the side chapels were not included in the original footprint of the building, rather they were appended with time.
The Cathedral also has a treasury containing retablos, paintings, old woodwork, furniture, sculptures and tombstones. There are also pieces that were involved with the funeral proceedings of several colonoal archbishops. Interestingly, there is a tombstone of Simon Bolivar, one of the ancestors of the Liberator Simon Bolivar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
. Also of note, the remains of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
were once housed at the Cathedral, before their final resting place in the Faro a Colon.
See also
- Colonial City of Santo Domingo
- History of the Dominican RepublicHistory of the Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles.Successive waves of Arawak migrants, moving northward from the Orinoco delta in South America, settled the islands of the Caribbean. Around AD 600, the Taíno Indians, an Arawak culture,...