The Church of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Spanish Church or ''La Purísima'', is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
located in
Tangier
Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
.
Overview
The church is located on
Rue Es-Siaghine
Rue Es-Siaghine (Arabic: زنقة الصياغين, meaning Silversmith's Street, also transliterated as Rue Siaghin or Rue Siaghine) is a street in Tangier, Morocco. Under Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, ...
, just west of the
Petit Socco
The Petit Socco, also known as the Place Souk Dakhel or in Spanish as Zoco Chico, is a small square in the medina quarter of Tangier, Morocco.
Name
The words are a combination of the French word ''petit'', meaning 'little/small', and the Sp ...
square at the center of the Tangier
medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
. It was built in 1880-1881 on the former ground of the Swedish legation, which had been established there in 1788. It was designed by architect on the initiative of Spanish Franciscan father .
It was complemented in 1892-93 by the edification of a
clock tower
Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...
, originally topped with a spire and later changed to the present-day cupola. The church used to serve the whole city's Christian community, including European diplomats.
More recently, the property has been used by the
Missionaries of Charity
The Missionaries of Charity ( la, Congregatio Missionariarum a Caritate) is a Catholic centralized religious institute of consecrated life of Pontifical Right for women
established in 1950 by Mother Teresa, now known in the Catholic Church as ...
who in 1996 altered its interior, partitioning the former church nave into two floors.
See also
*
Roman Catholic Cathedral of Tangier
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Tangier, whose full name is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit, also known as the Spanish Cathedral, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tangier, Morocco.
Background
The F ...
*
French Church of Tangier
The French Church of Tangier, formally the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and of Saint Joan of Arc (french: Église Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption et Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc), also known as , shorthand , or the (), is a parish church in Tangier, M ...
References
External links
*
Roman Catholic churches in Morocco
Churches in Tangier
Tourist attractions in Tangier
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