TheMetropolitan Cathedral Church of theHoly Cross,Our Lady of Regla, andSt Francis of Assisi is the mainecclesiastical building of theCatholic Church inChihuahua City,Chihuahua,Mexico. It is considered perhaps the finest example of colonial architecture in northern Mexico[1] and it was built between 1725 and 1792.[2] Thecathedral is also the seat of theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Chihuahua. As of 2013[update] thearchbishop wasConstancio Miranda Weckmann.
The building is situated on thePlaza de Armas. It is designed in theSpanishBaroque style, and is in the form of alatin cross, with adome above the crossing.
Thefaçade is interesting in that it involves the use of solomoniccolumns which were not widely used in New Spain at the time. It has anoctagonal window that was shipped fromGermany and is considered a fine specimen of the glassmakers art. In addition, the front contains a collection of monuments celebrating the twelve apostles, with a clock above, crowned with the sculpture of anangel that was added in the 19th century. The royal Spanish coat of arms occupied the area below the angel, but was removed in 1874 by architect José Félix Maceira, and the clock, which was acquired in London, was added, giving the façade its present appearance.[3]
Thenave is divided from the ambulatories by arches which support the massive ceiling, and has a finebaptistry chapel on the right, or north side, just inside from thenarthex. Directly opposite, on the south side, inside theChapel of Christ ofMapimí, is the tomb ofSt Peter of Jesus Maldonado, a priest andmartyr who was ordained in theCathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in El Paso,Texas, andcanonised byPope John Paul II in 2000. Thechapel is decorated with an 18th-centuryretablo, orreredos containing a venerated image of Christ, in whichPrimitive andBaroque elements are mingled. The chancel contains an unusual doublealtar, in which a smaller altar ofCarraramarble was incorporated into the existing larger one of local quarry stone, after the church was built. The organ in the east gallery was built in 1885 byHook and Hastings, Op. 1244 (2 manuals, 18 registers), and rebuilt and expanded byE F Walcker & Cie. in 1960. The Hook and Hastings instrument had, in turn, replaced aGeorge Jardine organ that was built in 1837, and rebuilt by Jardine in 1869.
TheBlessed Sacrament Chapel, ofbaroque andrococo design, is reached by a door in the south side of the nave. The sculpture above the entrance depicts Our Lady of Regla and her supplicants, SsFrancis of Assisi andRita of Cascia, the patrons of the city, above theHebrewsShadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace (see illustration below). TheSacred Art Museum is located in thecrypt, adjacent to thetombs of the pastprelates of the archdiocese. It displays a collection of paintings by such known Colonial-era artists asMiguel Cabrera,José de Alcíbar, José de Páez and Antonio de Torres; portraits of PopeJohn Paul II and the prelates of Chihuahua are represented as well. Thethrone that thePope used during his 1990Mass in Chihuahua and the large and ornate former archbishopscathedra and canopy are on display, as are contemporary paintings of the cathedral and several life-sized statues of the saints, some of which are two centuries old.
Originally,Sergeant-MajorDon Juan Antonio Trasviña y Retes, one of the leadingSpanish citizens of the village, donated the land for the first church in thevilla, where the cathedral would later stand.
The first stone was placed on 21 June 1725 by the Bishop ofNueva Vizcaya inDurango, DonBenito Crespo y Monroy (in those times, Chihuahua depended religiously upon, and was a part of, theDiocese of Durango.) The church was paid for with local commercial donations and by mine owners in the city and in Santa Eulalia, apueblo to the east, and also by a tax of one real on each mark of silver that was mined in the province.
The first superintendent of construction was Pedro Coronado, followed by Miguel de la Sierra and then Master Architect José de la Cruz, who finalised the plans, and was buried in the church upon his death in 1734. Others followed until Architect Bernardo del Carpio began the construction of the towers in 1758. The bells had been cast in 1730, and were placed in the newly completed towers in 1780, directed by Superintendent Melchor Guaspe.
Construction of the church was completed in 1792.[2] The building was slightly damaged during theFrench intervention in Mexico, repaired, and was designated acathedral on 23 June 1891, with the erection of the Chihuahua diocese from theDiocese of Durango. At that time, the new diocese was responsible for the faithful throughout the entire state. Chihuahua was elevated to the status of anarchdiocese on 22 November 1958 and now is the metropolitan archdiocese for fivesuffragan dioceses in the state of Chihuahua.
In 1910, with the commemoration of the century of theIndependence of Mexico, the cathedral was decorated with lights. It was not until 2005 when the cathedral was illuminated again, this time permanently. In October 2008 celebrating the upcoming tricentenary of the city of Chihuahua, a lights display show took place at the cathedral.
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| Province of Antequera, Oaxaca | ||
| Province of Chihuahua | ||
| Province of Durango | ||
| Province of Guadalajara | ||
| Province of Hermosillo | ||
| Province of León | ||
| Province of Mexico City | ||
| Province of Monterrey | ||
| Province of Morelia | ||
| Province of Puebla | ||
| Province of San Luis Potosí | ||
| Province of Tijuana | ||
| Province of Tlalnepantla | ||
| Province of Tulancingo | ||
| Province of Tuxtla Gutiérrez | ||
| Province of Xalapa | ||
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28°38′09″N106°04′38″W / 28.6358°N 106.0773°W /28.6358; -106.0773
