Cathedral Visit
Our School Visit to the
Cathedral We
trotted to school this morning and at coffee break we were asked if would like
to go on todays activity. Back we went after lunch, (with no books, dictionaries
or pens) thinking we would be straight out like we did on Friday. No. We did an
hour with our afternoon teachers, then off we set for the Cathedral. My brain
was hot with the verb ending AR.
Saint Joseph’s Church (Iglesia de San
José) is
the Roman Catholic Church that provides the facade for the ruins of the
Cathedral. The original cathedral was built around 1542, but suffered several
earthquakes throughout its history, the original building was demolished in
1669.
We walked around the church to enter the side entrance to the ruins.The cathedral was rebuilt and consecrated in 1680. By 1743 the cathedral was one of the largest in Central America. However, the devastating 1773 Guatemala earthquake seriously damaged much of the building, though the two towers at the front remained largely intact. These have undergone restoration work, and the ruins of the cathedral have been stabilised and partly rebuilt.
Bear looked small beside a collapsed column
In the crypt, now serving as a chapel, we saw a smoke blackened crucifixion scene
A floor plan. How the cathedral may have looked and a brilliant piece of information in English. Sadly we couldn’t visit the church as a funeral service was being held. Our admission / donation to see the ruins was twenty five pence.
On our way back to school we passed the Stations ‘parking place’ and took a couple of different shots (from Fridays) through a different gate.
A disinterested
model against a wall doing nothing for the colour of her dress – time for
our daily ice cream.
ALL IN ALL THE SIZE OF THE CATHEDRAL WAS SUCH A SURPRISE . |