Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de San Juan Bautista, or in English, Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist, is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico. The cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in San Juan, located in Old San Juan, the oldest cathedral in the United States, and is the second oldest cathedral in the Americas.[1] Even though the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, is an older church building, the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista was the first cathedral church in the Americas as San Juan, then known as the city of Puerto Rico, was the first diocese of the New World with bishop Don Alonso Manso in 1511. The site is the location of the first church built in the New World.[2] A private Puerto Rican foundation known as Fundación Protectora de la Catedral Metropolitana de San Juan, Inc. has been established to fund the historical restoration of the building and its art treasures for its 500th anniversary in 2021, and to protect it for coming centuries.[3]

This article is about the Roman Catholic Cathedral in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For the Episcopal Cathedral, see Catedral San Juan Bautista (San Juan de Puerto Rico).
Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of Saint John the Baptist
Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Juan Bautista
Front entrance
Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico is located in Puerto Rico
Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Location of San Juan and the cathedral in Puerto Rico
18°27′57″N 66°7′4″W
LocationSan Juan, Puerto Rico
DenominationRoman Catholic
History
StatusCathedral
Founded1521
Architecture
StyleBaroque
Groundbreaking1535
Completed1802
Administration
DioceseArchdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico
Clergy
ArchbishopMost Rev. Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M.

History

The original cathedral in what was the city of Puerto Rico (changed to San Juan Bautista in 1521) was constructed from wood in 1521. It was destroyed by a hurricane and the current church construction began in 1535, being practically completed in 1802, later in 1905 an upper portion to the facade was added.[4]

The first school in Puerto Rico was the Escuela de gramática (Grammar School). The school was established by Bishop Alonso Manso in 1513, in the area where the cathedral would later be constructed. The school was free of charge and the courses taught were Latin language, literature, history, science, art, philosophy and theology.[5]

The cathedral contains the tomb of the Spanish explorer and settlement founder Juan Ponce de León. It also has a shrine to the Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago, the first Puerto Rican and first Caribbean-born layperson in history to be beatified.[6]

The first organist of the Cathedral of San Juan was the Canarian Domingo Crisanto Delgado Gómez[7][8] who came from the island of Tenerife and managed to take this position in 1836, having been a composer in Cathedral Our Lady of Los Remedios of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in his native island.[8]

Interior of the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista

See also

References
  1. "Las cinco iglesias más antiguas de Puerto Rico". Puerto Rico Me Encanta (in Spanish). 2021-04-02. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  2. Palocaren, John. Ecclesiastical News. America (New York, N.Y. : 1909) 8.18 (1913): 431–. Tulane Univ. libraries website Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  3. "Buscan proteger y renovar Catedral de San Juan camino a su V centenario ‹ El Visitante".
  4. Mari Mut, José A. (2013-08-28). Los Pueblos de Puerto Rico y Las Iglesias de Sus Plazas [The Pueblos of Puerto Rico, and the Churches of its Plazas] (PDF) (in Spanish). pp. 202–203. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  5. "Hispanic Firsts", By; Nicolas Kanellos, publisher Visible Ink Press; ISBN 0-7876-0519-0; p.40
  6. "Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago (1918-1963)". Blesseds: Table of the Beatifications during the Pontificate of His Holiness John Paul II. The Holy See. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
  7. Castro, Olivia América Cano (December 18, 2007). Canarios en la música cubana. Ediciones IDEA. ISBN 9788483821169 – via Google Books.
  8. "Música del Siglo XIX para la Catedral de La Laguna.pdf". Google Docs.
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