Oldest Church In Cartago, Costa Rica V
by Al Bourassa
Title
Oldest Church In Cartago, Costa Rica V
Artist
Al Bourassa
Medium
Photograph - Photographic Artworks
Description
Conquistador Vásquez de Coronado first explored the eastern end of the Central Valley he found an area populated by numerous indigenous groups, and thus the Spaniards set about the mission of christianizing the native peoples. The settlement was eventually abandoned, however, due to recurring floods and episodes of pestilence.
The ruins of the church are still visible on the site and have been declared a national monument. The fate of the church in the Cartago parish has not been much better. Construction began in 1574, but between then and 1910 the building had to be rebuilt five times because of earthquake damage. Following the massive destruction caused by the Cartago quake of 1910, the church was abandoned and the ruins now form the centerpiece of a park in the middle of town.
Three blocks to the east of the parish ruins stands the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, an impressive Byzantine style church, built mostly of wood, which is the national religious shrine of Costa Rica. Every year thousands of devotees from across the country make a pilgrimage on foot to honor the Virgin Mary and to render homage for favors conceded. This pilgrimage coincides with the feast day of the Virgin of the Angels held on August 2nd to commemorate the miraculous appearance (and subsequent reappearance) of a small carved image of the virgin mother to a young native girl in 1635. The church was erected on the actual site and the rock on which the statue appeared can be seen in a crypt entered from the left-hand side of the church’s altar.
This digitally altered artwork is derived from a photograph taken Apr 15/10 in Cartago, Costa Rica, during our exploratory tour of South and Central America.
Final processing done with Smart Photo Editor.
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Uploaded
July 15th, 2018
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