Description of the attraction
The Catholic Church of San Francisco is located in downtown La Serena. The church building is from the late 16th century.
In 1563, Franciscan monks settled in La Serena. Christopher Fry Juan Torrealba Ravaneda built an adobe chapel on this site. In early 1585, Fray Francisco Medina and Juan Francisco Romano Carbero began construction of the current Italian Renaissance limestone church building. The thickness of the walls of the building reached 1, 20 m. The construction was difficult and expensive, since the limestone was brought from Penyulas Alto and from the forests of Ovale. The Church of St. Francis became the first stone church in the city of La Serena and was consecrated on Christmas Day 1627 in the name of Our Lady of Good Hope.
In the 17th century, the city of La Serena suffered from a series of attacks by corsairs. During the invasion of the city by pirates, led by the Englishman Bartholomew Sharp in 1680, most of the city was destroyed except for the church of San Francisco. During the earthquake of 1730, the church building was practically not damaged, with the exception of the roof, the repair of which was completed only in 1755. In 1735, a monastery and a college were opened at the church to train monks. It worked until the next devastating earthquake in 1796, in which part of the tower collapsed, leaving the building of the church and monastery unsuitable for service. In 1823, the Franciscans were expelled and their property confiscated.
In the first half of the 19th century, in connection with the discovery of copper mining, the Coquimbo Mint began to work in the monastery, but this project was short-lived. By 1840, the building of the monastery was used as a military barracks. During the fighting during the siege of La Serena in 1851, the tower of the church was badly damaged. In 1858, the building was returned to the Franciscan monks again.
In 1878, the church underwent several modifications: several floors were demolished, the temple consisted of three naves separated by arcades, the facade was changed, and three symmetrical neo-Renaissance entrances appeared. The renovated temple was opened on October 1, 1899.
In 1913, the tower and stucco façade of the church were destroyed again in an earthquake. In 1923, a new church tower was built, this time made of reinforced concrete. In 1975, after another strong earthquake, due to the very poor condition of the building, the church had to be closed. In 1977, the front half of the church was opened to the faithful, and restoration work continued in the rest of the building to restore the original tower top, walls and vaults that existed until the mid-19th century. A museum of religious art and church utensils was opened in the sacristy.
The Church of San Francisco was declared a National Monument of Chile in 1977.
