Lorraine & Tomas    -   La Antigua, Guatemala
San José el Viejo   -   6. 6. 2015
 


Español          English

Photos Our Story The wedding Practical details

San José el Viejo

5a Avenida, La Antigua, Guatemala

 

 


Wedding Ceremony at 14:00

performed by Licenciada Melissa Moran Orantes, Lorraine's daughter-in-law

Luncheon & reception after - see photos

 

San José el Viejo history

In 1740 a movement began to build a small chapel where the carved image of Saint Joseph, sculpted by Alonso de Paz, could be property displayed.  Construction began two years later when the city officials reported that sufficient alms had been collected for the building.  In 1744, a license was formally requested to legalize the work already done but the Crown was angered at the delayed petition and not only closed the hermitage but ordered the building torn down and the Government Fiscal fund fined.

Although construction stopped and the statue was temporarily removed to Santa Lucia, the partially built structure was not town down, but was extensively damaged in 1751. In 1759, a request for reestablishment of religious services was brought before the civil authorities.  This action was successful and the new building was completed in 1761. The hermitage was inaugurated the following year and the image was returned.  Finishing touches were done in 1763. It probably did not suffer much in 1773 (the big earthquake which destroyed much of Antigua). While some of the vaunting fell, it was sound enough to serve as a temporary convent for the Carmelite nuns of Santa Teresa.

San Jose el Viejo was occupied during the 19th century and reportedly housed a tannery and used as a barn in the 1930s and 1940s/  Fundacion G&T financed consolidation work during the late 1990's with supervision of the National Council for the Protection of la Antigua Guatemala.  Its unorthodox baroque façade is one of the most beautiful in the city today.

(from "Antigua Guatemala: the City and its Heritage" by Elizabeth Bell.)

 

 


lorduncan@gmail.com     cernikovsky@hotmail.com