The Basilica of San Francisco in the city of

La Paz, Bolivia La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the third-most populous city in Bol ...

, is a Catholic church under the advocation of

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 ...

. It is located in the center of the city, in the square that bears its name, Plaza San Francisco. The building was built between 1743 and 1772 but its tower was built in the end of the 19th century.

History

It was built between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in the so-called

Andean Baroque Andean Baroque (Spanish: ''Barroco andino'' or ''arquitectura mestiza'') is an artistic movement that appeared in colonial Peru between 1680 and 1780. It is located geographically between Arequipa and Lake Titicaca in what is now Peru, where rul ...

style. Milestones in its history include: *In 1548, the Convent of San Francisco was founded along the

Choqueyapu River The Choqueyapu River, sometimes called the La Paz River, is a river in the La Paz Department of Bolivia. It belongs to the drainage basin of the Amazon. The river originates in a spring called Achachi Qala (Aymara: ''achachi'' border stone, old, g ...

by Fray Francisco de Morales. *In August 1549 the construction of the first Church of San Francisco began, which was concluded in 1581. *Between 1608 and 1612 the first church collapsed as a result of a snowfall of considerable proportions. *Between 1743 and 1744 the construction of the present church began. *In 1753, the closure and the roof of the church's dome were completed. *On April 23, 1758, it was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

. *In 1790, the carved façade is finished. *In 1885, the construction of its single tower began. *In 1948, it was declared a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

. *Between 1950 and 1960, part of the convent was demolished and the atrium reconfigured. *Between 1965 and 2005, the church was restored, and the part of the convent remained was enabled as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

References

Sources

* ÁLVAREZ LÓPEZ, Rolando. CRONOLOGÍA de SEPTIEMBRE y OCTUBRE de 2010. Rev. Fuent. Cong., oct. 2010, vol.4, no.10, p. 76-80. . Consulted i
www.revistasbolivianas.org.bo
in June, 2013. *''Iglesias mostrarán su patrimonio arquitectónico en la “Noche Blanca”'', published in ''El Diario'', October, 19 of 2012, consulted i
www.eldiario.net
in June, 2013. *Centro cultural Museo San Francisco, Official Web Site https://web.archive.org/web/20140102073422/http://www.museosanfranciscobolivia.com/

Image gallery

Image:San-Francisco Bolivia.jpg, The façade. Image:Inside San-Francisco Bolivia 02.jpg, The cloister.

History

References

Sources

Image gallery

See also