Antigua Guatemala Cathedral

Parish of San José (Spanish: Catedral de San José), located in the city of Antigua Guatemala, is part of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala and is located in a section of the old Primate Cathedral of Antigua Guatemala, which was destroyed by the 1773 Guatemala earthquakes. The first construction of the cathedral began in 1545 with the rubble brought from the destroyed settlement in the Almolonga Valley, which had been a second attempt to found a town in the region. Its complete construction was hampered by frequent earthquakes over the years. On April 7, 1669, the temple was demolished and a second sanctuary would be inaugurated in 1680 under the direction of Juan Pascual and José de Porres. There is also evidence that the Spanish engineer and image maker Martín de Andújar Cantos worked on its reconstruction.

The cathedral of Santiago had three constructions; the last of them was consecrated in November 1680 and was the work of master Joseph de Porres. In 1718, after the 1717 Guatemala earthquake (San Miguel earthquakes), Diego de Porres repaired the vaults, the arches, the dome, the second body and the façade. The main altar stood under a dome, supported by sixteen columns lined with carey and decorated with elaborately worked bronze medallions. On the cornice were placed the image of the Virgin Mary and the twelve Apostles, made of ivory.

In 1743 the Cathedral of Santiago de Guatemala was elevated to Metropolitan, whose festivities were celebrated with great pomp in February 1745. The pallium was brought from Europe by the illustrious Mr. Marín who transported it to Veracruz where he delivered it to Bishop Molina, who was going from road to the city of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala. Knowing that the bishop was already arriving, the festivities were arranged for the solemn reception and the illustrious dean of the Mitra, the church council, many members of the clergy, the distinguished neighbors and the prelates of the religious came out in carts pulled by mules to receive the visitor. Arriving at the archbishop's palace, they were received by numerous clerics, schoolboys from the Tridentine College and Seminary of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. There was a tedeum for the choro chapel of Master Kyrós and then they went to the Palace, where the chapel was richly decorated. Once the ceremony was over, it was decreed that on November 14, 1745, the exaltation festivities would take place. That day the bells rang early, and numerous rockets were set off. At nine o'clock, the public authorities went to the cathedral, which was decorated with great care and where there was a solemn mass. When the pallium was imposed on Archbishop Pardo y Figueroa, there was a peal of bells and firecrackers and a gunpowder castle in the square in front of the cathedral, followed by a luxurious banquet for the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in the Archbishop's Palace. The party continued all night, with numerous fireworks. The following days the different regular orders held their own celebration and there were also indigenous and lay dances, horse races and bullfights in the main square for the next eight days. The archbishop then went to his country house in Milpas Dueñas, where the festivities continued for another week, with bullfights provided by Joseph de Naxera, Joseph de Arrivillaga, and Miguel de Coronado. The historian Domingo Juarros considers that fifty thousand pesos were spent on those entertainments. The Santa Marta earthquake of 1773 caused serious damage to the structure of the cathedral, and two of its chapels were restored at the beginning of the 19th century. Beneath the structure is a crypt, in addition to a set of tunnels whose usefulness is unknown. The cathedral housed the remains of the conqueror Pedro de A

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