City of Salta - Photos and info
Information and photos of the historical center around the Plaza 9 de Julio, with a selection of museums of art and archaeology, cultural institutions and historical sites.
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The construction of the present building was completed in 1882 according to plans by architect Felipe Bertrés. The place in front of the Plaza is the place that was destined for the first Mother Church, around the year 1582, which was destroyed by an earthquake, like successive later buildings.
Conceived within an Italianate baroque style, it has a rectangular plan with three naves, with a central dome of high drum and terminal lantern. The lateral naves, which are lower, allow the entrance of natural light through stained glass windows.
The access to the temple presents an elevated atrium with a main portico in triumphal arch with three arches of similar characteristics. The central one is framed by four Corinthian columns that support a broken or "open" pediment. Above it rises an ornamented gable in the center of which opens a quatrefoil oculus that illuminates the nave. The towers were conceived as twins. The right one corresponds to the bell tower, the left one has a clock.
The interior of exuberant ornamentation and polychromy presents a deep presbytery and a semicircular apse containing the main altar, designed by Father Luis Giorgi.
The Cathedral also houses the Pantheon of the Glories of the North, where the remains of General Martin Miguel de Güemes and other personalities of the history of the Province of Salta are honored.
The side building with a wooden balcony is the Archbishop's Palace. Originally built in 1896 in neo-gothic style, it was remodeled in the 1930's in neo-colonial style.
The Festivity of the Lord and the Virgin of the Miracle is the largest religious celebration in Salta. Every September 15, a huge procession takes place from the Cathedral to the Parque 20 de febrero carrying the images of both patrons of Salta, who are attributed with the miracle of having stopped the earthquakes that devastated the city in 1692.
© Photo: Binder & Haupt
Summary and translations by Universes in Universe from information of the Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of Salta and other sources.
Information and photos of the historical center around the Plaza 9 de Julio, with a selection of museums of art and archaeology, cultural institutions and historical sites.