Catholic Nations

In South America, nearly 70% of the people are Catholics and approx. 20% are Protestant Christians. It is therefore not a surprise to find impressive and remarkable RC church buildings in some of these SA countries. In almost every SA country we visited, we were led to visit at least one of the RC church buildings. In Lima, Peru, it's the Basilica & Convent of Santo Domingo. In Buenos Aires, it's the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires or Catedral Metropolitana de Buenos Aires.

The Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires which was first built in 1580 has since undergone numerous renovations and upgrades. At the Mausoleum of San Martin and the Unknown Soldiers on the right side of the main hall, it is interred with the remains of General Jose de San Martin. San Martin is revered by Argentinians, Chileans and Peruvians for his role in fighting against the Spanish colonizer to gain freedom for these three countries. Every morning, a group of  Granaderos matches from the Presidential Palace to the Cathedral and two would then replace the two stand-on guards for the rest of the day.

This Cathedral at the Plaza de Mayo at first glance does not resemble the traditional church buildings that we are accustomed to. It looks more like a pantheon. The 12 neo-classical columns represent the 12 disciples of Jesus. This Cathedral has since become more prominent after Pope Francis was named the Pope of the Catholic Church. He used to perform mass at this Cathedral when he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires before his elevation to the papacy at the Vatican in 2013.

Right: Mausoleum of General Jose San Martin and the Unknown Soldiers

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The original Basilica & Convent of Santo Domingo in Lima first built in late 16th century was destroyed in an earthquake in 1687. What we see today is a product of reconstruction, alteration and improvement carried out over the years.

We were led through a narrow opening, down a steep cat ladder to a dimly lighted basement floor below the ground floor. This area was once the cemetery of the church. One can imagine how the people had to endure the smell emitted from these graves below whenever they came for gathering at the church! Finally, decision was made to discontinue burial and all remains and bones were gathered and placed in an ossuary of several meters deep at this basement floor.

Basement chamber, once a cemetery.

Left: The huge ossuary. Right: An opening at the top of the ossuary.