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Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento, seen from Pasaje Corina Kavanagh.
Continuing the previous post about the Kavanagh Building, I would like to talk more about the Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento (Basilica of the Sacred Sacrament). It is considered one of the most luxurious churches in Buenos Aires and it is the favorite place to hold the weddings of the high society people.
Mrs. Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena was born in one of the most aristocratic families of the city on the early twentieth century. She built this church on a plot she owned as a “palace” to God, because she also lived in a palace (the Anchorena Palace). The church was designed in 1908 by French architects Coulomb and Chauvet. They adopted an eclectic style within the historical context of religious architecture. Inspired by the churches of Paris, they applied to this church neo-Romanesque, Gothic and neo-Byzantine features. The Salesian architect R. P. Vespigiani directed the construction that took eight years to complete, using the best materials. The church was consecrated Basilica in 1916 by Pope Benedict XV.
Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento, seen from San Martín St.
Externally, the facade has a vertical movement, marked by three of the its five towers, all of them decorated by beautiful domes. Its central tower has 50 meters of height and is decorated by a group of sculptures of two angels kneeling around the Saint Peter Julián Eymard, founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Basilica interior is richly decorated. There are many ornaments of great value, details in gold and silver, blue granite, bronze, Venetian mosaics, wood carving, a group of sculptures in white marble in the central nave, a French organ of 1912 and delicate and colorful stained glass of great expressiveness. In the crypt, in a small chapel at the base of the central tower is the tomb of Mercedes Anchorena. The whole architecture is a successive accumulation of shapes and volumes, colors and details, as a huge shrine.
The Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento is open daily from 6:30am to 8:00pm. The admission is free.
Where?
1039 San Martín St. | Tel: +54 (11) 4312-2314 / 4311-0391 | Fax: +54 (11) 4312-6454
sepphora | August 16, 2009 | 1:56 pm | Retiro
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