Saint Mark's Cathedral (), also known as the Arica Cathedral, is a Catholic church located in the city of

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. The building was commissioned by the government of Peruvian President

José Balta José Balta y Montero (25 April 1814 – 26 July 1872) was a Peruvian soldier and politician who served as the 19th President of Peru from 1868 to 1872. He was the son of John Balta Bru and Agustina Montero Casafranca. In 1865, he aided Ma ...

to the workshops of the Frenchman

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...

, originally intended for the seaside town of Ancón, located north of the Peruvian capital of

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

History

The original church stood for 226 years until it was destroyed by an earthquake on August 13, 1868. Because of this, a local women's committee asked then president

for the construction of a new cathedral. The request was accepted, and the building was inaugurated in 1876 on the site of the former church. In 1880, the city was occupied by the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army () is the land arm of the Chilean Armed Forces. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, an army aviation brigade and a special operations brigade. In recent years, and after sever ...

during the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

. However, until the early twentieth century, the parish of Arica remained part of the diocese of Arequipa, according to the orders of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. On February 27, 1910, the mayor of Arica, Maximo Lira, decreed the expulsion of Juan Vitaliano Berroa, parish priest of Arica and his assisting priest Juan Gualberto Guevara, being Peruvian, replacing them with Chilean military chaplains. The jurisdiction of Arica went to the Vicariate General Castrense of Chile and soon after (1911) was annexed to the Vicariate Apostolic of Tarapacá (current

Diocese of Iquique The Roman Catholic Diocese of Iquique () is a diocese located in the city of Iquique, Chile, in the ecclesiastical province of Antofagasta. History * 1880: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Tarapacá from the Diocese of Arequipa in Peru * 2 ...

References

Roman Catholic cathedrals in Chile Buildings and structures in Arica Roman Catholic churches completed in 1876 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Chile Rebuilt buildings and structures in Chile Gothic Revival church buildings in Chile {{chile-RC-cathedral-stub

History

See also

References