Puerto Rico to reopen historic church after long restoration

The Associated Press ^ | 03/12/2021 | Dánica Coto

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The construction worker stood on his tiptoes and tried to arrange a crown of thorns on a statue of Jesus while architect Jorge Rigau fired a flurry of directions from beneath the ladder.

“Grab it like this and move it just a bit,” he said, motioning with his fingers. “Move it to the right, but don’t lower it.”

It was one of the final touches on a detailed restoration of the second oldest surviving Spanish church in the Americas, whose construction had begun by 1532 on land donated by famous explorer Juan Ponce de León and whose base was erected atop an Indigenous settlement.

The church was built for a Dominican convent where the renowned Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas once lived, served as shelter during an attack by the Indigenous Taínos, became Puerto Rico’s first high school and was damaged by a cannonball during the 1898 Spanish-American War in which Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the U.S.

But the San José Church — surpassed in age only by the Spanish cathedral in the neighboring Dominican Republic — was shuttered in 1996 due to serious deterioration. San Juan’s own cathedral dates to 1521, but the original wooden building was destroyed and the current structure dates to 1540.

The $11 million restoration became a personal project for businessman Ricardo González that took nearly two decades to complete. Many thought it would fail due to funding problems, the lack of an original blueprint to provide guidance and widespread deterioration including termites, pigeon droppings and tree roots that had pierced the church’s Gothic-style nave whose ribbed vault was once described as “a grand accomplishment rarely seen outside Europe.”

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San Juan, the oldest city in the United States, was founded in 1521, after the original Spanish settlement across the bay, Caparra, established in 1508, proved impractical because of swampy conditions.

Puerto Rico was discovered and claimed for Spain in 1493 by Christopher Columbus, and ceded to the United States after the War with Spain of 1898.

[KC_Lion]

Thank You for posting!

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Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Nice to see some good news.

My favorite part: “The restorers framed the area where the cannonball hit during the 1898 war.”

Preserving all the history of the church.

[BozoTexino]

Just visited a few weeks ago. I’ll have to check this out next time.

[victim soul]

Thanks for the post.