Catedral Primada de Bogotá

The Catedral Primada de Bogotá stands on the east side of the Plaza de Bolívar at Carrera 7 No. 10-80 in La Candelaria, Colombia, and is the seat of the Archdiocese of Bogotá and the primate church of the country. The first chapel on the site was a straw-roofed structure consecrated in 1539 at the city's founding. Successive buildings followed, but earthquakes and structural weakness led to the current cathedral, begun in 1807 to designs by the Capuchin friar Domingo de Petrés and consecrated in 1823, after independence. It is the fourth church on the site. The exterior is a restrained neoclassical composition with a columned façade and a central pediment, in contrast to the ornate baroque of many colonial churches. The interior has a Latin-cross plan with a central nave and two aisles, a series of side chapels, and a large vaulted space richly decorated with gilded altars, paintings and sculptures from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Chapel of El Topo is a notable side space, and the Capilla del Sagrario holds important works of colonial art. The cathedral contains the tomb of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the conquistador who founded Santa Fe in 1538, as well as the remains of other prominent figures of Santa Fe society. Conservation work has been carried out over the years to address earthquake damage, humidity and wear on the stonework and gilding. The building remains an active church with daily Masses, so visits are arranged around services and visitors are asked to dress modestly and keep silent. Guided tours of the interior have been offered at times, and a small museum of religious art is associated with the complex. Because it forms one side of the plaza with the Capitolio, the Palacio Liévano and the Palacio de Justicia, the cathedral is normally seen as part of a single walking circuit of central Bogotá.