Description of the attraction
The Alto Vista Chapel is a small Catholic church also known as the Church of the Pilgrims. It stands on a hill, 8 km northeast of the city of Nord. The church is painted on the outside in a very bright yellow color and is visible from afar.
The Alto Vista Chapel was built in 1952 on the site of a Catholic church founded in 1750 by missionary Domingo Antonio Silvestre of Santa Ana de Coro, Venezuela. The area where the chapel is located is considered the very place where the conversion of the Indians of Aruba to Christianity began, and the village was founded here by the missionaries. Adjacent to the chapel is the Arikok National Park and California Lighthouse.
The work on the construction of the church and the conversion of local Indians to the Catholic faith were the main occupations of Father Sylvester, which he carried out on his own. The old church was built of stone and covered with a thatched roof. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary of the Rosary. A small cross was installed here, brought from Venezuela by one of the priests. After the death of Sylvester, Miguel Enrique Albares served in the temple, then Domingo Bernardino Sylvester, the son of the first priest.
In the late 18th - early 19th centuries, during a plague epidemic, many residents died, while the rest left the settlement and went to Nord. The church was deserted and completely destroyed by 1816. A wooden cross has surprisingly survived. It is currently in St. Anne's Church in Nord.
The project for the new chapel was developed in 1952 by the Dutch engineer Hille. There are several crosses inside, one of which is remarkable - this is an old Spanish cross, it is one of the oldest European works of art in the Caribbean.
The building does not have any stained-glass windows, but the altar with the statue of the Virgin Mary and the very calm atmosphere are conducive to prayer. The border of the old chapel is marked with stones, and several graves have also survived, among them the burials of Domingo Antonio Silvestre and Miguel Enrique Albares.
