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| Chile |
| Santiago de Chile |
| San
Francisco Church |
|
The San Francisco Church is a Franciscan church on
Avenida Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, in the downtown of
Santiago de Chile. The church, along with the adjacent convent,
has the distinction of being the oldest colonial-era building in
the country.The church was consecrated in 1622. The bell tower
was destroyed by an earthquake in 1647, while the rest of the
building successfully resisted it. In 1730 another earthquake
badly damaged the rebuilt tower, which was demolished in 1751.
The current bell tower is of Victorian architecture and was
constructed in the mid-1800s. Its architect was Fermín Vivaceta
and features a distinctive clock. In the early years of the 20th
century, a part of the convent was sold and demolished to build
the Barrio París-Londres. The other part is the current home of
the Museo Colonial.
Click on the picture for a larger version
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