St. Julian's Church () is a

gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in Argelia,

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders th ...

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 ...

, dedicated to

Julian of Cuenca Julián of Cuenca ( 1127 – 28 January 1208), also known as Saint Julián, was a Spanish Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Cuenca from 1196 until his death. He also served as a professor and preacher in addition to being a sim ...

. The church is part of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sonsón–Rionegro The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sonsón–Rionegro () is a diocese located in the cities of Sonsón and Rionegro in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Medellín, Medellín in Colombia. History * 18 March 1957: Established ...

History

In 1902, the Bishop of Medellín, Joaquín Pardo Vergara, created the St. Julian vice-parish (), which had approximately 3,000 inhabitants and a simple straw chapel, built by the

Sonsón Sonsón is a municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. Sonsón is located in Eastern Antioquia. It is one of the seats of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sonsón–Rionegro. Sonsón celebrates "Las Fiestas Del Maíz"- ('Festival of ...

's priest, Daniel Florencio Sánchez, with the help of the parishioners. On June 26 of the same year, Juan Manuel Contreras was appointed as vice-parson. The vice-parish was created as a part of the parish of Sonsón. On July 29, 1903, Pardo Vergara made a pastoral visit, during which he authorized the parson to present some unused ornaments to the vice-parish, including a

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

, the first in Argelia, played by the young Nacianceno Ramírez Pavas, future organist of the

Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín The Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. It is located in the central z ...

for more than 40 years. One of the first goals of Contreras, was to build a church capable of accommodating all the parishioners. He requested the permission of the prelate, which was granted. A directive assembly was created, with Contreras as the president, Nazario López as vice-president, Vicente Flórez as treasurer, Primitivo Giraldo as secretary, and Críspulo Alzate as councilman, the same post of Ramón María Toro. On August 23, 1903, the first stone was laid, in the presence of Abel María Naranjo, parson of

Abejorral Abejorral is a town and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Part of the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. It borders to the north with the municipalities of Montebello, La Ceja and La Unión, to the east with municipality of Sonsón, ...

, Isaac Ángel, co-assistant of Sonsón, and Isaac Cardona, parson of

Aquitania Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquit ...

. Argelia was visited by the Archbishop Manuel José Caicedo on August 28, 1907, the first prelate visiting the vice-parish. By the time of his visit, the church was not initiated, except the " tapias" (walls), because the people had prioritised building the curate's home. Caicedo encouraged the inhabitants of the village to contribute money or time to the building of the church as a priority. Towards the middle of 1911, with Contreras still the vice-parson, Archbishop Caicedo made a second pastoral visit. On the suggestion of the parson of Sonsón, Tiberio de Jesús Salazar y Herrera (future archbishop of Medellín), Caicedo promoted Contreras to co-assistant on April 25, 1913, but he died on July 6 of the same year. Alzate, who designed the first emplacement of Argelia, was the director of the construction, and in August 1918, the archbishop created the parish of Argelia, mediating his own decree. On April 29, 1923, the main facade was started using

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

, mined from a nearby quarry at the direction of Juan de Dios Díaz. On March 13, 1927, the facade was almost finished, and the inside had a main altar. In 1937, Vargas was removed and Alberto Londoño was named as his replacement. Londoño was the parson for nearly seven years and replaced the old doors, and the brick floor was replaced with tiles. A clock was also added, bought for $ 180. The clock had previously been the property of Sonsón's church, and later, part of the Chapel of Jesus (), whose chaplain was Ramón Elías Botero. Londoño was replaced by Mario Ángel, and he by Antonio Ángel in 1956. Antonio Ángel bought the ''via crucis'', the lamps and the candelabras. On March 18, 1957, the Diocese of Sonsón was created (today, the

Diocese of Sonsón-Rionegro In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

), and the parish became a part of the new diocese.

References

{{coord missing, Colombia Roman Catholic churches in Colombia Gothic Revival church buildings in Colombia Buildings and structures in Antioquia Department Tourist attractions in Antioquia Department