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| La Recolleción, Antigua, Guatemala |
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2013/07/tihosuco-san-martiniano-other-mayan.html
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| Oaxaca Cathedral, Oaxaca MX |
Buildings in many places in Latin America are at-risk from the frequent earthquakes in these zones of frequent seismic activity. In fact, this environment prompted a new style of architecture that would be more earthquake resistant. The Oaxaca Cathedral in Oaxaca Mexico typifies the solidity with which these churches have been built. There are none of the slender bell-towers and sky-grazing spires of churches in other places; these churches are rock-solid. Please follow the link below to learn more about this "Earthquake Baroque" architectural style.
https://colonialmexicoinsideandout.blogspot.com/2013/04/oaxacan-baroque-environment-and.html
Yet, even the most stringent architectural guidelines are not a guarantee; Latin America bears testimony to the destructive power of earthquakes. The churches of Antigua, Guatemala are one case in point. Although the original structures are gone, some of their outline and all of their spirit remains. It is impossible to walk through a church ruin without sensing it is still a holy place.
San Jose Cathedral Cloisters:
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| Cloister ruins of San Jose Cathedral, Antigua, Guatemala |
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| Cloister ruins of San Jose Cathedral, Antigua, Guatemala |
Church of Santo Domingo
This former Dominican Monastery dates from 1538 and was destroyed in the 1773 Santa Maria earthquake that destroyed the San Jose Cathedral. Today, the old church-convent is a cultural complex that includes a museum and a hotel.
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| Santo Domingo Convent ruins, Antigua, Guatemala |
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| Santo Domingo Convent ruins, Antigua, Guatemala |
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| Santo Domingo Convent ruins, Antigua, Guatemala |
La Recolección:
This mission complex built by the order of Recollects in 1717 included classrooms, a library, hospital and cloisters. It was damaged by an earthquake in 1751 then largely destroyed in the major Santa Maria earthquake in 1773. Today it is surrounded by a park. The mission remains hauntingly beautiful in its destroyed state.
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| La Recolección ruins, Antigua, Guatemala |
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| La Recolección ruins, Antigua, Guatemala |
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| La Recolección ruins, Antigua,Guatemala |
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| La Recolección ruins, Antigua, Guatemala |
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| La Recolección ruins, Antigua, Guatemala |
Why Visit Church Ruins?
Churches, like the human beings they are built to serve, have an interdependent physical and spiritual component. Even when their physical structure is destroyed, what they were and what they meant to people remains. This is what makes church ruins such compelling places. They are places of spiritual memory, something that cannot be destroyed. Touring the church ruins of Antigua, Guatemala, or anywhere else, is as valuable experience as visiting the functioning churches themselves.
