St. Mary's Cathedral, Chiclayo
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The Cathedral of Saint Mary (), commonly called Chiclayo Cathedral, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiclayo in
Chiclayo Chiclayo (; mochica language, Mochica: ''Cɥiclaiæp'') is the principal city and capital of the Lambayeque region and Chiclayo Province in northern Peru. It is located from the Pacific coast, from the city of Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo, and from ...
,
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 ...
. The cathedral church was built in the neo-classical style starting in 1869 according to designs and plans commissioned from
Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...
, nicknamed "Rose Meridionale". Construction was interrupted in 1871 due to lack of funds, and resumed only after the Congress of the Republic lent support a half-century later. Building resumed on February 13, 1928, and was completed in 1939. The cruciform cathedral was designed in the neoclassical style. Its main façade features two bell towers and three portals, with the central one being the largest. The façade's gable, above the large second-story balcony, is topped with a statue of Santa María de los Valles de Chiclayo, in whose honor the
Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...
founded the modern city of Chiclayo in the 16th century. The crossing is surmounted by a large dome. Its four bells, "Ave Maria", "Asumpta", "Mater Dei", and "Gratia Plena" were cast in Germany and brought to Chiclayo via the Port of Pimentel.
Pope Leo XIV Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since May 2025. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States and North America, the fir ...
, then known as Robert Francis Prevost, was Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023 and regularly celebrated mass in the cathedral.


See also

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Catholic Church in Peru The Catholic Church in Peru is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope, the curia in Rome, and the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Catholics compose an estimated 76% of Peru's population, according to the ...


References

Roman Catholic cathedrals in Peru Buildings and structures in Chiclayo Roman Catholic churches completed in 1939 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Peru Gustave Eiffel's designs {{Peru-geo-stub