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, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

Catholic

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

located in

Zamora, Michoacán Zamora de Hidalgo (Spanish pronunciation: aˈmoɾa de i'dalɢo is a city in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Michoacán. The 2010 census population was 141,627. making it the third largest city in the state. The city is the muni ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. 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 The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

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

Candlemas Candlemas (also spelled Candlemass), 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 commemorating the presentati ...

, by the second bishop of Zamora,

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

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, pro ...

had been established in 1862 and needed a cathedral.

Beginning

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

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, or

style with an unusual twist, a dome over the crossing. The cathedral would contain 5 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 ...

, 4 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 ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

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 ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...

, for an indefinite time. During the intervening years, only half of the cathedral was complete, including 4 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 Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

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 ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed 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 ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. 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. Spires are ...

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.

The Sanctuary today

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 pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

, 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.

Image gallery

Image:interior_listo.jpg, The Interior. Image:tocando_el_cielo.jpg, The cathedral at dusk. Image:organo22.JPG, Metallic frame for the organ shown before its installation in 2009. File:Santuario Guadalupano- The Sanctuary as viewed from Hidalgo St.jpg, The Sanctuary as viewed from Hidalgo St.

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