As we were leaving we passed the entrance to the catacombs under the Basilica. We were allowed to walk through them, this is where many people are buried, it was very interesting.
In front of the Basilica.
On the boardwalk above the ceiling of the church, from here you can climb into the tower. Click to enlarge you can see the ladder, then you go out and climb 2 or 3 more ladders into the tower.
The clock tower, I climed up to the clock but I didn´t go up to the towers.
Interior from the second floor.
Up close view of one of the large windows.
There are beautiful stained glass windows.
This church uses statues of animals found in Ecuador instead of the usual gargoyles. They are called grotesques, they are unique to this church.
A view of the Basilica from a hill by the school where we delivered the desks a few weeks ago,then a side view of the church.
January 30, 2011
The senior missionaries all got together today and went sightseeing. We went to the Basilica, a very, very large church in Quito. It was approved to build in 1884, and started in 1892. Mary´s Immaculate Heart Chapel was built from 1892 to 1909. By decree of July 3, 1885, the Fourth Quitense Provincial Council turned the construction of the basilica into a religious compromise in the name of the country as an external symbol of the Consecration of Ecuador to Jesus Sacred Heart realized on March 25, 1874. The basilica was blessed by Pope John Paul II on January 30, 1985. The basilica remains technically "unfinished". Local legend says that when the Basílica is completed, the end of the world will come. It is the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas. There are 24 smaller chapels off the main chapel, one for each providance in Ecuador.
1 comment:
What an amazing building! The catacombs look fascinating (albeit somewhat creepy.) :) I loved the pictures of the planks across the top of the vaulted ceiling. It would be so fun to see it in person!
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