The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Spanish for Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) 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 ...
parish church in the city of
Santa Tecla,
La Libertad Department, El Salvador. It was completed in 1914 in a
neo-gothic
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 ...
style.
History
The construction of the church was conducted in very specific phases, many of which are attributable to the priest in charge of the church at a given time.
1856–1891: León de Jesús Castillo
In 1855, one year after the city of
Nueva San Salvador
Santa Tecla () is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department of La Libertad.
The city was named after Saint Thecla who was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of ...
was founded, Colonel
León Castillo started constructing a church dedicated to the
Lady of El Carmen. León Castillo had been active in armies under the command of General
Francisco Morazán
José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a Central American politician who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president of Central America h ...
.
Records refer to him as a courageous soldier.
His military career had been characterised by his commitment to liberal reform, something illustrated with his involvement in the expulsion of religious orders from
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
and the expropriation of churches since 1829, which is the year in which the liberal revolution began in Central America. The legend says that in 1840, León Castillo was injured during combat in
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
and managed to crawl to Iglesia del Carmen del Cerrito, where he promised to the
Lady of El Carmen that if she saved his life, he would work his whole life to propagate her faith and he would build a temple for her. He was taken care of by the priest Antonio Larrazabal, and he lived in the temple for almost two years. Colonel Castillo was instructed in
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 ...
faith and sciences, before he finally could return to
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
.
León Castillo fulfilled his promise of reconstructing the chapel of
Our Lady of El Carmen in the Church of la Merced in San Salvador after the earthquake of 1854. When a new capital was established in
Nueva San Salvador
Santa Tecla () is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department of La Libertad.
The city was named after Saint Thecla who was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of ...
after this earthquake, León Castillo decided to erect the church of his dreams in the new city.
Bishop Miguel Pineda y Saldaña and León Castillo chose a location for the church in the north of the city, near the current Belén school. The construction of this chapel started 9 August 1856. When the construction was well under way, León Castillo received an image of the Lady of El Carmen from Luis Batres, a friend who lived in Guatemala. This image was blessed and placed in the modest church by 11 April 1860. This building did not end up becoming Castillo's dream temple. He would have to wait and work hard to secure a larger piece of land elsewhere in the city and also obtain the necessary funding to build the church he wanted.
The war of 1863 compelled León Castillo to suspend construction to care for the wounded and the sick. He had also been working against the liberals to avoid the seminary next to
Iglesia Concepción to be closed down and to prevent the forced emigration of the clerics.
When the war ended, the Bishop helped Colonel Castillo restart the work of Iglesia Concepción. The
sacristy
A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.
The sacristy is usually located ...
was built, as well as two
aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...
s parallel to the central aisle and the
belfry. The walls in the ends and on the sides were made of
talpetate and brick. The construction of the belfry was initiated and three
bells were placed on the top. An entrance was also built under the belfry that led to the monastery of
Capuchin friars
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...
. The first Capuchin priests arrived in the middle of 1864 and they were provisionally placed in the seminary of
Iglesia Concepción.
In 1866 Bishop Saldaña gave the unfinished church to the
Capuchin order. The new owners gave the temple the name of
Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Belén Iglesia may refer to:
* Iglesia Department
* Iglesia ni Cristo
* Iglesia Filipina Independiente
, native_name_lang = fil
, icon = Logo of the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan Church).svg
, icon_width = 8 ...
, which was inaugurated on 1 March.
Construction of the current Iglesia del Carmen
In 1871, León Castillo acquired more land to the north of the main plaza in the city in 3rd Street-West. He decided to construct the temple he had dreamed of here. For this, he needed to acquire more land and gradually he managed to purchase it from the land owners of the area. First from Don Gregorio Valle on 16 September 1873; then from Don Esteban Vásquez on 17 September; from Don Manuel Dubón Rodríguez on 20 October 1874; and finally, a fourth piece of land from Don Tomás Dubón on 17 November 1877. The Iglesia del Carmen ended up being a bit larger than 5,000 square metres.
The ecclesiastical license to build the new temple was granted by the
episcopal edict
An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement".
''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum.
Notable edicts
* Telepinu Proc ...
on 23 November 1876. The one to set the first stone was Bishop Luis Cárcamo y Rodríguez on 27 November 1878. The construction was financed mostly by donations and raffles. León Castillo managed to maintain construction work uninterruptedly. The Colonel died on 16 November 1891 and his body was buried under the first window of the left aisle.
1892–1894: PP. Bernal y Argueta
Bishop Antonio Pérez y Aguilar, who later became an archbishop, ordered Father Juan José Bernal to continue construction work on the church and also named him its chaplain. After two years of work, the central aisle was completely renovated. Father José E. Argueta was named the new chaplain of the church in 1883. Father Argueta continued leading the construction work. In 1894, the left chapel was finished and it was dedicated to the
Sacred Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...
and to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...
.
1894–1916: P. José María López-Peña
Father José María López-Peña made considerable changes of notable artistic quality in the main aisle of the church. He decided to make the roof of the central aisle higher, following the Gothic style. Father López Peña also ordered the construction of a bigger and newer image of
Our Lady of El Carmen. He paid the artist 175 silver
peso
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the Dollar sign, same sign, "$", as many currencies na ...
s. This image was placed over the primitive main altar. In 1897 the sacristy was inaugurated. In 1898 the right chapel was opened and dedicated to the
Holy Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
and
Divine Providence
In theology, Divine Providence, or simply Providence, is God's intervention in the Universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which ...
. These were represented with the most valuable sculptures in the church, which were an inheritance from the colonial period and had been kept in
San Salvador
San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...
in Iglesia San Francisco which was demolished during the earthquake of 1873. The chapel of the Holy Trinity and Divine Providence was almost entirely financed by the contributions of Beatriz Orantes de Estévez, the Gallardo Family, and Doña Concha Morales Villaseñor.
In 1899 Father López-Peña commissioned
Pascasio González to decorate the most visible part of the main altar, and to do so in an imitation of the Gothic style. In 1900 the brick pavement was opened and the new altar was inaugurated on 16 July. The old altar was moved to the chapel of the
Sacred Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...
where the image of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...
was installed. In June 1904 decoration works were concluded in the chapel of the Holy Trinity. The convent on the north or the temple was also completed. In the end of the same year the
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
and wooden constructions of the facade were finished and also the towers designed by Jose Jerez. The carpenter
Luz Molina and the artist
José Ruiz accepted to direct the work charging no honoraries for their contribution.
In 1941 the chaplain José Jerez became dissatisfied with the work in wood and he ambitiously redesigned the facade and towers. These plans never materialised, but the drawings have been conserved. José Jerez intentions were to construct a fabulous Gothic temple in stone and cement.
The last part of the temple in 1904 was built under the direction of a board composed of well known personalities in Santa Tecla These personalities were: Enriqueta Fajardo de Araujo, Carmen Estévez, Gertrudis Orellana, Isabel Morales, Juana Olivares Saldaña, Josefina Alcaine and Rosalía Chavez.
In 1910 the church's facade was completed. The bronze image of the Lady of El Carmen was dedicated 25 March. The artwork was donated by Recaredo Gallardo and his wife, Carmen Alvarado de Gallardo. Painting inside the sanctuary was concluded in 1913.
This concluded the construction work started 37 years earlier by León Castillo. Father López-Peña made further efforts to expand the convent; he eventually gave it to priests of the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
, who have been responsible for the church since. From that point forward, a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest has always been the chaplain of the church.
The arrival of the Jesuits
When the necessary canonical authorizations were granted, the priests of the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
received the church and residence of El Carmen in January 1916. The sanctuary had to be repaired a little over a year later due to an earthquake. The painting and artistic restoration was performed by brother Frías S.J. He is the same artist who painted the image of the Lady of Guadalupe in the Gothic altar of the Salesian workshops of the School of Arts and Trades in Santa Tecla. The crucified Christ of the altar and the screen of the main gate as well as the confessional booths and pulpit were carved in these workshops.
The earthquakes of 2001
On 13 January and 11 February 2001, the territory of El Salvador was struck by two powerful earthquakes of 7.7 and 6.1 magnitudes in the Richter scale. These events completely damaged Iglesia del Carmen, prompting the Society of Jesus to initiate plans to raise funds to demolish the existing structure and begin building a new church. Public authorities in El Salvador have reportedly delayed this procedure because they want to make sure that the structures of the church cannot be rescued before they authorize the demolition of this cultural and historical milestone of Nueva San Salvador.
The "El Carmen Project" is a non-profit foundation that has been set up by
Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas"
José Simeón Cañas Central American University ( es, Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas"), also known as UCA El Salvador, is a private university with nonprofit purposes in San Salvador, El Salvador, run by the Society of Je ...
to attract and administer donations for the reconstruction of the church.
References
External links
* http://www.uca.edu.sv/elcarmen/
{{coord missing, El Salvador
Roman Catholic churches in El Salvador
Churches in San Salvador