San Francisco Church ( es, link=no, Iglesia de San Francisco) is a Catholic church located in Barón Hill,

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

, Chile. The church served as lighthouse to the navigants who were arriving Valparaíso until the early 20th century, being the first recognizable point of the city. Valparaíso is often nicknamed with the diminutive form of Francisco: ''Pancho''. The church was constructed by the Franciscan community. The construction works ended in 1846. The building was remodeled in 1890 by architect Eduardo Provasoli. The church was named

National Monument of Chile The National Monuments of Chile (Spanish: ''Monumentos Nacionales de Chile''), also abbreviated MN, are the constructions, elements and places that form part of the country's cultural heritage, and they are protected by law. They are National Heri ...

on 19 July 1983. In the middle of a reconstruction process after the

2010 Chile earthquake The 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami ( es, Terremoto del 27F) occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February at 03:34 local time (06:34 UTC), having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking l ...

, the church was severely damaged by a fire in September 2010. It was once again affected by a fire in August 2013 close to its re-inauguration by President

Sebastián Piñera Miguel Juan Sebastián Piñera Echenique OMCh (; born 1 December 1949) is a Chilean billionaire businessman and politician who served as president of Chile from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2018 to 2022. The son of a Christian Democratic polit ...

Fires

1983

Iglesia de San Francisco de Valparaiso en 1864

San Francisco Church suffered a fire on 4 February 1983. It was reconstructed in the following years.

2010

San Francisco Church suffered a great fire on 2 September 2010, in the middle of a reconstruction process which had started in June 2010. The fire was started in the attic of the church, and damaged most of the roofing of the church. It also damaged Luis Beltrán School. The church had been already severely damaged by 27 February 2010 Chile earthquake. The fire started around 12:00 local time (16:00 UTC), while a priest was performing a mass for around 60 people. The church was immediately evacuated. Around 600 students from the nearby Luis Beltrán School were also evacuated. The church was scheduled to be re-inaugurated on 15 September, according to priest Javier McMahon. It is believed that the cause of the fire were some welding sparks. The Ministry of Public Works of Chile estimated the damage at around 2.500.000.000 Chilean pesos (5 million US dollars).

2013

The church was, once again, affected by a fire on 2 August 2013. The fire started at 04:30 local time (08:30 UTC) for reasons under investigation, in the Faculty of Mathematics of the

Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso The Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso ( es, link=no, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso) (PUCV), also known as ''Universidad Católica de Valparaíso'' (UCV), is one of six Catholic universities in Chile and one of th ...

. Firefighters told '' La Tercera'' the building had no risk of collapsing. The church was being repaired at the time, and was close to being inaugurated by President Piñera.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Francisco Church (Valparaiso) National Monuments of Chile Buildings and structures in Valparaíso Region Buildings and structures in Valparaíso Churches completed in 1846 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Chile Tourist attractions in Valparaíso Region