Concatedral De San Nicolás El Magno
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Catedral San Nicolás el Magno is a
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
co-cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...
, located in the municipality of
Rionegro, Antioquia Rionegro () is a city and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia, located in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The official name of the city is Ciudad Santiago de Arma de Rionegro. Rio Negro means "Black River" in Spanish, as the city ...
,
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. The church, under the Diocese of Sonsón-Rionegro is dedicated to
Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...
and was elevated to the title of cathedral on 20 April 1968 by
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
.


History

The first church dates from between 1662 and 1668, and it became a center of evangelisation for the first priests and missionaries arriving from Europe. 125 years later, on March 8 of 1793, the then bishop of
Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...
,
Ángel Velarde y Bustamante Angel is a given name meaning "angel", "messenger". In the English-speaking world Angel is used for both boys and girls. From the medieval Latin masculine name ''Angelus'', which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived ...
, made a pastoral visit to the church and was affected by what he saw as evil spirits in the church. Obtaining consent, he saw that the old temple was demolished and asked for administrative and communal funding and support to erect a new church in its place. The bishops Jose Pablo de Villa and Jose Felix de Mejía would be in charge of administering these resources, in addition to directing and handling the work of the new parochial church. The old church was demolished in the same year (1793), and the church commenced construction, with walls made of
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
and
brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
and later reinforced with mud. The style of the church was heavily influenced by the Iglesia de la Candelaria that had been built in
Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...
twenty years earlier. The chief construction official was Antonio de Orozco, and the painter,
Jose Pablo Chávez Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean *Jose ben Halafta *J ...
, a native of
Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...
and resident of
Santa Fe de Antioquia Santa Fe de Antioquia is a municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia. The city is located approximately north of Medellín, the department capital. The population was 23,216 at the 2018 census. History Founded in 1541 by Jorge Robled ...
was brought in to paint the lower part of the balconies depicting a ship and skies. In December 1803 the Father's Jose Pablo de Villa and Mateo Cardona began to celebrate in the new church, not yet finished, and finally on 8 September 1804, with a solemn inauguration, the church was officially opened. On 21 March 1812, a treaty was signed and proclaimed in the church for the Constitution of the Free and Independent Sovereign State of Antioquia from colonial rule, in which 19 representatives of the towns of Antioquia participated. The independence was proclaimed in the pulpit of the church by the Bishop
Jose Felix de Mejía Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean *Jose ben Halafta *J ...
, who was incidentally an uncle of the ex-president
Liborio Mejía Liborio Mejía Gutiérrez (July 28, 1792 – September 3, 1816) was a Colombian colonel and politician during the struggle for Independence from Spain, and in 1816 Liborio Mejía became president of the United Provinces of the New Granada making ...
. On April 7, 1814, the funeral and subsequent burial of the dictator
President of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...
Juan del Corral took place. In 1892, the first substantial modification of interior and exterior occurred where the altarpieces of and clock dating from 1837 were altered. A meeting held on 30 December 1890, had decided that the two lateral towers of the main facade of the church, that originally had been made from wood were on the verge of sinking and needed immediate repair. The diocese set a budget of 1,500 pesos to conduct restoration work, but the total cost far exceeded this at 2,801 pesos. In 1926 a second structural change took place, when the Colombian architect
Tomás Uribe Tomás may refer to: * Tomás (given name) * Tomás (surname) Tomás is a Spanish, Portuguese, or Irish surname, equivalent of '' Thomas''. It may refer to: * Antonio Tomás (born 1985), professional Spanish footballer * Belarmino Tomás (18 ...
and the Belgian architect
Agustín Goovaerts Augustin Goovaerts (1885 – August 15, 1939) was a Belgian architect and engineer, born in Schaerbeek, Belgium, in 1885. Throughout his life, he designed a number of important urban architectural buildings, mainly in Colombia, where he worked as ...
, were hired to modify the original gothic one and redesign the main facade in a neoclassic style. Completed in 1940, this design of the cathedral remains today. Later, in 1954, a
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
lining of the table of the altar was inducted by silversmith Carlos Minami after a donation. In 1957, the central altar was altered, replacing its old
oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...
s with the present gilded one laminated in
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
, and reconstructions of the altar structure with plaster reproductions. On March 18 of 1957, the Diocese of Sonsón was created by means of the “ In Apostolici Muneris” of
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
, dismantling the territory of the Archdiocese of Medellín, and creating the parish of San Nicholas of Rionegro within this new territory. On February 8 of 1959, the Coronation of Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Arma conducted by Archbishop Paolo Bertoli, took place in the presence of the civilian authorities, military, ecclesiastical clergy and the public, which occupied the main square of Rionegro on the day. Between the years of 1963 and 1965, the Catedral de San Nicolás the niches of the ships on the altar underwent change and were modernised from the original gothic style. After this Samuel Alvarez B. was appointed to the task of reconstructing and extending the cathedral laterally, affecting the
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...
of dictator
Juan de Corral ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...
(buried in 1814). With architect Nel Rodríguez, the construction of a new parochial hall and side buildings took place in the 1970s, with works concluded in 1977. On April 20 of 1968, the church was elevated to that of a
Co-cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...
, proclaimed by
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
and has since evolved to become a part of the '' Diocese of Sonsón-Rionegro''.


References


External links


Sitio oficial de la Diócesis de Sonsón-Rionegro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concatedral De San Nicolas El Magno Buildings and structures in Antioquia Department Roman Catholic cathedrals in Colombia 1668 establishments in the Spanish Empire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1793 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Colombia