Basilica of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá

rorocando

@rorocando22 · 30 Apr 2021

Basilica of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá

The Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá, is the most crowded catholic temple in the Zulia state in Venezuela, located in the center of the city of Maracaibo. A construction dedicated to the Virgin of Chiquinquirá, patron saint of Zulia state. The basilica has 3 naves and 2 towers, a high altar, a presbytery and numerous niches dedicated to various saints.
Below is chronologically the evolution of construction.

In 1686 Captain Juan de las Nieves Andrade built a hermitage of clay and straw in honor of San Juan de Dios of whom he was a devotee.
In 1709 the miracle of the restoration of the tablitte occurs. A humble lady finds the tablita on the shores of Lake Maracaibo and places it as a lid of a jar, then she heard a tapping and some lights coming from her house and when she entered the tablet she found the glowing image of the Virgin and Child next to St. Anthony and St. Andrew. The image on the tablita became the object of pilgrimage for devotees, and the tablita was transferred to the hermitage of San Juan de Dios, (present-day Basilica).
In 1712 the governor of the province of Maracaibo Francisco de la Roche Ferrer decreed the construction of the brick church where the hermitage of San Juan de Dios was located.
In 1717, Governor Guillermo Tomás de Roo ordered to demolish the hermitage and build in its place a wider one between 1717 and 1723.
In 1770 the butler of the church Pedro González de Acuña built the first tower.
In 1858 José de Jesús Romero remodeled the church, which is renamed the parish of Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá and San Juan de Dios.
In 1920 Archbishop Arturo Celestino Álvarez, second bishop of Maracaibo, obtained from Pope Benedict XV the decree of elevation of the temple to a minor basilica.
In 1921 the Zuliana corporation was created for the coronation of Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá, which began the remodeling of the church to its current shape and dimensions, the works ended in 1941.
On November 18, 1942 was the coronation ceremony of the Virgin of Chiquinquirá, which was officiated by Monsignor Marcos Sergio Godoy, third bishop of the Diocese of Maracaibo and was attended by Monsignor Arturo Celestino Álvarez at that time bishop of the Diocese of Calabozo and the president of the general republic Isaiah Medina Angarita among other personalities, the Virgin was crowned with a crown of 10 kg. 18 karat gold.
In 2004 a monument square to la Chinita was inaugurated in front of the basilica, the work was designed and executed by the architect Alí Namazi, and was built by the management of the governor of Zulia Manuel Rosales. #photooftheday