Cathedral of Cartagena, Colombia

The Cathedral of Cartagena in Colombia, officially the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (Spanish: Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa Catalina de Alejandría), is located in the historic centre of Cartagena. It is the episcopal see of the Archbishop of Cartagena de Indias, one of the oldest episcopal sees in the Americas. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

The cathedral was designed by master builder Simón González, modelled after basilicas in Andalusia and the Canary Islands. The present tower was designed by French architect Gastón Lelarge, the result of remodelling in the early twentieth century. Construction began in 1577, replacing a humble cathedral of straw and reeds. In 1586, while the church was still under construction, it was attacked by the English privateer Francis Drake, which caused severe damage and delayed its completion. The building was finished in 1612.

The cathedral has a fine doorway and a simply decorated interior. It contains an 18th-century gilded altar, a Carrara marble pulpit and elegant arcades sustaining the central nave.

The current cathedral concerns the third building built as a cathedral church in the city. The first one was promoted by the Dominican friar Tomás de Toro y Cabrero, first bishop of Cartagena, and who was named by the Pope Paul III. The construction of the temple began in 1535, only two years after the founding of the city, and ended in 1537. It was a humble construction of "thatched roof and reeds", was located in the block that is behind the present cathedral, with front on the street calle del Coliseo. The life of this building was short, for in 1552 a fire consumed much of the city and in ruins the cathedral was converted. In its replacement, between 1563 and 1568, the construction of the second cathedral temple was carried out, realized in wood and of thatched ceiling, because were difficult times and it did not have many resources, but was more solid than the previous one. From this second temple a modest trace is preserved in the General Archive of the Indies and a physical remnant of its bulrush.

Pedro Fernández de Busto, governor of the city, notably the promoter of the architectural works that were carried out at that time and who also undertook the task of carrying out important projects in the urban area, such as the drying and sanitation of the main entrance of the city, which established the Plaza Real (now the Plaza de la Aduana); the initiation of the works of an aqueduct, which was never completed and would endow the city with running water; The construction of a hospital, and the creation of houses for the administration of justice, the jail and the Cabildo. The idea of granting Cartagena a dignified building that would serve as a cathedral church emerges and is also promoted by himself. In addition, towards 1575 the Dominican friar Dionisio de los Santos arrived like new bishop, who sends a letter to the King, dated May 25 of that year, where he describes something about the cult in the cathedral, among which he says: "There are no rations or half rations, no choirboys, but a clever sacristan and two sacristan waiters who serve the altar in a T-shirt and zaragüelles, which there is no more. And so this church is served as a sad parish of Spain, "so the sovereign gives immediate order to rebuild it.

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Wikipedia