Iglesia de San Agustín —

Our Lady of Grace Our Lady of Grace is a Titles of Mary, Title of Mary. The feast day associated with this title is February 7. The title of Our Lady of Grace is venerated in many countries throughout the world under various aspects. Many parishes, churches, and sch ...

, commonly known as Church of St Augustine or Templo de San Agustín, is owned by the Order of Saint Augustine. It 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 * Chris ...

, located at the southeast corner of Agustinas and Estado streets, in downtown

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, whose ...

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 ...

History

Built in 1625, Iglesia de San Agustín is the second oldest church in Chile after Saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

's church. The Order of Saint Augustine in Chile was established within this church and monastery. The first church was built in 1608, but has been since rebuilt. It is in the Spanish Colonial

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

& Neoclassical architectural styles. In the church is a wooden carving of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, known as ''Cristo de Mayo''. According to local legend, the crown of thorns around the statue's head slipped down to its neck during the

1647 Santiago earthquake The 1647 Santiago earthquake struck Santiago, Chile on the night of 13 May (22:30 local time, 02:30 UTC on 14 May) and is said to have brought virtually every building in the city to the ground. The earthquake was felt throughout the so-called Cap ...

. When someone tried to move the crown back up to the statue's head, the face of Christ began to bleed and the ground started shaking. The crown has remained untouched, still around the statue's neck. There is also a sub-altar dedicated to Saint

Rita of Cascia Rita of Cascia, born Margherita Lotti (1381 – 22 May 1457), was an Italians, Italian widow and Augustinian nuns, Augustinian nun venerated as a List of Catholic saints, saint in the Roman Catholic Church. After Rita's husband died, she joine ...

, which contains a

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of hers (a small piece of bone).

Architecture

The main facade of the church was refronted by

Fermín Vivaceta Fermín Vivaceta Rupio (January 12, 1829 – February 21, 1890) was a Chilean architect, teacher and firefighter. Life Vivaceta was born in Santiago, Chile on January 12, 1829. He was son of Fermín Vivaceta, an Argentinean citizen residing in C ...

, which gave it its present Neoclassical appearance. The remodeling work began in 1850. The facade features a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

-topped

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, which rests on six Doric columns.

References

External links

Roman Catholic churches in Chile Churches in Santiago, Chile Colonial architecture in Chile Neoclassical church buildings in Chile {{RC-church-stub