The Convent of Santo Domingo is a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

in the city of

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, built on the site of the Inca temple of Coricancha.

History

In 1534, Juan Pizarro, brother of the conquistador

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

, granted the land of the former Inca temple to the Dominican Order after receiving it in the distribution of plots. The first prior of the convent was Friar Juan de Olías, who arrived with a group of missionaries from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The construction of the convent took several years and was officially consecrated in 1633. In 1650, an earthquake severely damaged the convent's infrastructure, while the Inca-built Coricancha remained intact. Reconstruction lasted until 1680. After the 1950 Cusco earthquake, the Church of Santo Domingo suffered the most severe damage in the city. The tower arches collapsed, the crossing sustained major destruction, the northwest angle tilted outward, the apse wall cracked, and the balcony overlooking the city fell. In the cloister, all arches were misaligned, rendering the second-floor rooms uninhabitable. The church has three naves, a dome, and a finely carved cedar choir stall, with walls adorned with Sevillian tiles.

References

Sources

* * Monuments and memorials in Peru Dominican monasteries World Heritage Sites in Peru {{Peru-church-stub