The Iglesia del Monasterio del Carmen Bajo de San Rafael is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 * C ...

located on Independencia Avenue, in the district of Independencia of the city of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Founded as a monastery in 1770, operated as such until 1958, and since 1985 is the seat for the Vicaría Episcopal Zona Norte of the Archdiocese of Santiago. The church, along with the surviving buildings of the former

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

, was declared as a National Monument of Chile on November 24, 1983, within the category of Historic Monuments.

History

On January 30,1762, the corregidor of Santiago Luis Manuel de Zañartu sent a petition to

King Charles III of Spain it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = 20 January 1716 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain , death_da ...

requesting the construction of a

in the city for the

Discalced Carmelites The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...

. It was granted by a Royal Decree in July 1766. The site chose for the monastery was located in ''La Cañadilla neighborhood'', north of the

Mapocho River The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two. Course The Mapo ...

. Construction of the first buildings began in 1767 and finished in 1770. The church began to be built in 1774 under the supervision of Marcelino de la Peña and Juan Solís. It was inaugurated on October 24, 1777 by the corregidor Zañartu and members of the

Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' ( ca, Reial Audiència, Audiència Reial, or Audiència), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional des ...

. A flood caused by the overflow of the

in 1783 damaged the foundations of the church building, which forced the nuns to leave the building, being temporarily accommodated in a house owned by the Dominicans, close to the Recoleta Dominica. In 1870

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Fermín Vivaceta remodeled the church, installing a statue of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

on the tower of the church. The monastery operated until February 20, 1958, when the nuns of the congregation relocated themselves to

La Reina La Reina ( Spanish: "The Queen") is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region created in 1963 from an eastern portion of the Ñuñoa commune. It belongs to the Northeastern zone of Santiago de Chile. La Re ...

. The old church building was neglected until 1985, when it was altered to serve as the seat for the ''Vicaría Episcopal Zona Norte'' of the Archdiocese of Santiago, after having undergone deterioration for many years, being even misused as a warehouse for the

Vega Central La Vega Central, also known as the Feria Mapocho (Mapocho market), is a market located at the far south of Recoleta commune in Santiago de Chile, almost at the north bank of the Mapocho River. A wide variety of products are sold in its surrounds ...

Description

The church is parallel to Independencia Avenue, and consists of a rectangular block with a single tower on its southeast corner. There is a partially fenced

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

in front of the main facade. The

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

in style with intersecting wings creating various

patios A patio (, from es, patio ; "courtyard", "forecourt", "yard", "little garden") is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In Australia the term is expanded to include roofed stru ...

. The walls are of adobe, and the roof, which is in part supported by slender posts, is covered with Spanish colonial roof tiles. The church is neoclassical in style with various slightly-projecting facade elements including Corinthian order pilasters and

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, corresponding to the ...

, and a curved

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

topping the front entrance. The upper stages of the tower have a wood structure lined with stamped iron sheets, while the rest is of brick. The tower is topped by a statue of St. Raphael the archangel.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Churches in Santiago, Chile Roman Catholic churches in Chile