San Francisco Church () is a Catholic church located in

Barón Hill The Baron Hill (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Cerro Barón'') is one of the Hills of Valparaíso, 42 hills of the Valparaíso, city of Valparaiso, Chile. It is located on the east end of the Plan de Valparaíso, plan of the city, next to the Dair ...

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

, Chile. The church served as

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

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

2010 Chile earthquake The 2010 Chile earthquake and tsunami () occurred off the coast of central Chile on Saturday, 27 February at 03:34:12 local time (06:34:12 UTC), having a magnitude of 8.8 on the moment magnitude scale, with intense shaking lasting for about ...

, 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 (; 1 December 1949 – 6 February 2024) was a Chilean 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 Party (C ...

. It was reopened following an extensive restoration process in May 2024.

Fires

1983

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 peso The peso is the currency of Chile. The current peso has circulated since 1975, with a Chilean peso (1817–1960), previous version circulating between 1817 and 1960. Its symbol is defined as a letter S with either one or two vertical bars super ...

s (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 Valparaíso () (PUCV), also known as ''Universidad Católica de Valparaíso'' (UCV), is one of six Catholic universities in Chile and one of the two pontifical universities in the country, along with th ...

. Firefighters told ''

La Tercera (), formerly known as (), is a daily newspaper published in Santiago, Chile and owned by Copesa. It is s closest competitor. is part of Periódicos Asociados Latinoamericanos ( Latin American Newspaper Association), an organization of fourte ...

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

Restoration

On May 2024, the church was reopened following an extensive restoration process.

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