The Metropolitan Cathedral of Guayaquil – Wikipedia, free encyclopedia

The Guayaquil Metropolitan Cathedral (Officially Cathedral of San Pedro) ^{[ first ]} It is an Ecuadorian cathedral that is in the center of Guayaquil, in the Seminary Park, it was originally built in wood around 1547, in which at that time it was the main square of the city, and rebuilt in armed cement in the century XX , in neo -Gothic style. It was the parent church since the middle of the century XVI . ^{[ 2 ]} ​

Originally the cathedral was built in wood next to the Cabildo’s house and in the Plaza de Armas, (current seminary park) then the temple was destroyed by a fire in 1692. It was refurbished during the Republic, maintaining the simple colonial style it had, Until it was decided to dismantle the original church in the century XX and rebuild it in durable materials. ^{[ 2 ]} ​

On the facade of the original church was a carved wooden medallion with the image of the apostle Santiago, patron of Guayaquil, which when removed from the old church was placed as decoration in the office of the mayor of Guayaquil, in the municipal palace of Guayaquil where it is currently preserved.

It is the only building that maintains the original use of the solar plaza of Armas de Guayaquil, because at the beginning of the century XX The Municipal Palace of Guayaquil and the Palace of the Government of Guayas were built in the Simón Bolívar Malecon, so that the concept of the main square of Hispanic inheritance was lost in the center of Guayaquil.

Currently, the other lots of the old Plaza de Armas are occupied by hotels and private buildings.

The current construction was built between 1924 and 1937, is currently in Chimborazo streets between August 10 and Clemente Ballén. ^{[ 2 ]} ​

The cathedral has attached the Archbishop’s Palace of Guayaquil and the offices of the Metropolitan Curia, also in a neo -Gothic style.

It has been the scene of the reaquiem masses of the former presidents of Ecuador Jaime Roldós, León Febres-Cordero Ribadeneyra and Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy.

The Church had as its first location the top of Santa Ana along with the Cabildo’s house, in that place it will remain for several years. Until the year of 1639 when it is decided to overthrow because it had suffered considerable damage due to a fire and to avoid the constant danger towards their parishioners, its demolition was decided and then began with its repair. On December 6, 1692, the city was razed by a voracious fire that caused the transfer of the southern urban nucleus that was known at that time as La Sabaneta or Puerto Cazons, thus giving the origin of the well -known new city.

In 1694 the new church began to be built that would adopt the name of “matrix” in the New City sector that is the current location and was inaugurated the following year. From its opening, it had no major changes until in 1822 the Guayaquileño Monsignor Francisco Xavier de Garaycoa and Llaguno decided to renew its architecture by adding a new tower to its facade adding 2.

In 1870 the structure loses all colonial vestige due to the new architectural currents in the purest neoclassical style.

In 1924 the construction of the current Gothic -style cathedral began disassembling the old temple that was made of wood. The works were carried out by the Italian company General Society of Constructions. ^{[ 3 ]} ​

As an additional fact, the Municipality of Guayaquil when carrying out the urban regeneration works on the Santa Ana hill, ordered a small temple at the top of it, referring to the place that the parent church formerly occupied in the first years of existence of The city and where the old town hall was located, today the lighthouse rises. ^{[ 4 ]} ​

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  Side take of the cathedral.

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  Interior Detail of the Cathedral

Characters that were buried [ To edit ]

Characters that were buried in the colonial era and early republican era, which after the disarmament of the old wooden church to build the current one apparently were lost or their bones could be where the Guayaquil hotel raised today.

Name	Occupation	Death
Antonio Enriquez de la Viesca	Merchant	Guayaquil, 1768 [ 5 ] ​
Joseph de Bargas	Presbyter and lawyer of the hearings of Lima and Quito	Guayaquil, 1768 [ 6 ] ​
Ramón de Noboa and Unzueta	Attorney General and Ordinary Mayor	Guayaquil, 1799 [ 7 ] ​
Joaquín as a couple and Troy	Real Ensign of the Cabildo	Guayaquil, 1804 [ 8 ] ​
Tadeo de Robles and Pacheco	Lieutenant Governor and Justice of Zaruma	Guayaquil, 1819 [ 9 ] ​
Julián Bodero de Larrabeytia	Lieutenant older sheriff	Guayaquil, 1842 [ ten ] ​
Fray José Bou	Prócer de la Independencia	Guayaquil, 1842 [ 11 ] ​

In this place there are several of the bishops and religious who acted in the cathedral being the following:

Name	Occupation	Death
José Tomás de Aguirre	Bishop of Guayaquil	Guayaquil, 1868 [ twelfth ] ​
José Lizarzaburo	Bishop of Guayaquil	Guayaquil, 1877 [ 13 ] ​
Andrés Machado	Bishop of Guayaquil	Guayaquil, 1926 [ 14 ] ​
José Heredia	Bishop of Guayaquil	Guayaquil, 1954 [ 15 ] ​
Roberto Pazmiño Guzmán	Mgr	Guayaquil, 2016 [ 16 ] ​

References [ To edit ]

external links [ To edit ]