Also known simply as Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish: ''Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe'') is a

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

Catholic

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

located in

Zamora, Michoacán Zamora de Hidalgo () is a city in the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Michoacán. The 2010 census population was 141,627. making it the third largest city in the state. The city is the municipal seat of Zamora Municipality, Michoacán, Zamora M ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

s reach a height of 107.5 meters, making it the tallest church building in Mexico.

History

The

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

of the cathedral was laid on February 2, 1898, the feast of

Candlemas Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of the Holy Encounter, is a Christian holiday, Christian feast day commemorating the presentation of ...

, by the second bishop of Zamora, Don Jose Ma. Càzares y Martinez. The architectural plan is attributed to the Zamoran architect Jesús Hernández Segura. The

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

had been established in 1862 and needed a cathedral.

Beginning

Construction started in 1898, with a crew of more than 300 men working on the site. It was designed in the

style with an unusual twist, a dome over the crossing. The cathedral would contain five extensive

naves The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type b ...

, four of which had been roofed over by the end of 1910; vast amounts of quarry stone were required in order to accelerate the work.

Abandonment

The

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

brought problems to Zamora, and to the country as a whole. In 1914 the work of construction was suspended due to the revolution and later, the

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

, for an indefinite time. During the intervening years, only half of the cathedral was complete, including four of the naves, and all the pillars were in place. Unfortunately, due to the continuing conflict, the original drafts were lost; all that remained were a drawing of the original facade and a general plan of construction. Also, much of the original quarry stone disappeared, and the cathedral was damaged when the army decided to use one of the stone walls as a place of execution; many died by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

for their faith. The evidence still exists in the form of hundreds of bullet holes etched in the wall; a silent memorial to those who died there.

Reconstruction

After many fits and starts, in 1988 Josè E. Jiménez Robles, eighth bishop of Zamora, was able to plan for restarting construction and in 1989, it was decided to dedicate the building to

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, Juan Bernardino reported in December 1531, when t ...

. Its completion seemed almost impossible to him; the lack of economic resources and the time needed to complete the project being the most daunting tasks. The work of reconstruction began in 1990, with a new facade instead of what was originally planned, and bearing a resemblance to the gothic cathedral in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. A

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

was placed at the crossing instead of the planned dome, this being an element more in keeping with pure gothic architecture. The walls were cleaned of debris then cracks were repaired and the walls reinforced. The towers were redesigned to make them more spacious and the patio was paved in order to lend greater stability to the building.

Present day

At the moment, construction is on the verge of completion and last details are being finished. The

Pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

, by

Alexander Schuke Potsdam Orgelbau Carl Alexander Schuke (14 August 1870 – 16 November 1933) was a German organ builder and from 1894 to 1933 owner and manager of the . The company still exists today. Life Born in , Kingdom of Prussia, Schuke was the son of the pastor Karl ...

based in Potsdam, is complete and was installed early in 2009. With the newly installed

s, the

s now reach a height of 107.5 meters. The inner illumination is completely finished and in niches on the pillars, images of the saints have been placed, with plaques with their respective names underneath.

Gallery

File:Torres nuevo1.jpg, 105 m high towers File:Rosetón Santuario Guadalupano.JPG, Rose window and statues of saints File:Santuario de Guadalupe - vidrieria.jpg, Rose window design File:Interior del Santuario Guadalupano de Noche.JPG, Central nave File:Santuario de Guadalupe - nervios catedral.jpg, Vaults of the central nave File:Órgano del Santuario Guadalupano.JPG, Organ

References

External links

DiocesisdeZamora.orgImages of the new organ installation
by {{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral Of Our Lady Of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe

Buildings and structures in Michoacán Tourist attractions in Michoacán Gothic Revival church buildings in Mexico Religion in Michoacán