The Church of Saint Joseph and Saint Maximilian Kolbe (), popularly known as Iglesia de los Conventuales (due to its history as a former claustration convent), is a Roman Catholic parish church in

Montevideo, Uruguay Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern coa ...

History

The temple and its convent were built by French architect

Víctor Rabú Víctor Rabu (1834 – 24 March 1907) was a French architect. Career He was an exponent of eclectical historicism. He built a notable number of churches in Uruguay, for that reason he was known as "The Lord of the Churches": * Iglesia de los Con ...

between 1860 and 1867 for the

Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (), abbreviated VSM and also known as the Visitandines, is a Catholic Church, Catholic religious order of Pontifical Right for women. Members of the order are also known as the Salesian Sisters (not to be ...

, whose nuns lived in claustration. The architectural inspiration, mix of Renaissance and Baroque, was taken from the Italian

Basilica of Sant'Andrea, Mantua The Basilica of Sant'Andrea is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral and minor basilica in Mantua, Lombardy (Italy). It is one of the major works of 15th-century Renaissance architecture in Northern Italy. Commissioned by Ludovico III Gonzaga, the churc ...

./ For some time the remains of the patriot priest Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga were held here, before being brought to the cathedral. The parish was established much later, on 17 February 1966. Today it is held by the

Conventual Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

. It is dedicated to

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

; later it was also dedicated to the Polish martyr St.

Maximilian Kolbe Maximilian Maria Kolbe (born Raymund Kolbe; ; 8 January 1894 – 14 August 1941) was a Polish Roman Catholic priest, Conventual Franciscan friar, missionary, saint, martyr, and a Nazi concentration camp victim, who volunteered to die in place ...

, O.F.M. Conv.

References

External links

Pictures of "Conventuales"
Barrio Sur, Montevideo 1966 establishments in Uruguay Roman Catholic churches completed in 1867 Roman Catholic church buildings in Montevideo Franciscan churches in Uruguay Baroque Revival architecture in Uruguay 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Uruguay {{uruguay-RC-church-stub