A Five Years' Residence in Buenos Ayres, During the years 1820 to 1825: Containing Remarks on the Country and Inhabitants; and a Visit to Colonia Del SacramentoLove, George Thomas
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A Five Years' Residence in Buenos Ayres, During the years 1820 to 1825: Containing Remarks on the Country and Inhabitants; and a Visit to Colonia Del Sacramento
Love, George Thomas
Buenos Aires (Argentina) -- Description and travel; Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay) -- Description and travel
I have visited most of the churches of Buenos Ayres, with feelings I can
scarcely describe. My mind was ever strongly imbued with recollections
of those youthful readings of monastic institutions, of cowled monks
and nuns, which, in our Protestant land, we only read of; but to have
the reality before me, absorbed every faculty--I gave a loose to
fancy--every thought was engaged.
I believe the following to be a tolerably correct list of the churches
and chapels in Buenos Ayres:--
The Cathedral.
St. Francisco.
St. Domingo.
St. Ignatio, or College Church.
St. Catalina (Convent of Nuns).
St. Juan (ditto).
St. Nicholas.
St. Miguel.
Residencia.
Montserrat.
La Merced.
La Conception.
Loccaro.
Recolator.
La Piedad.
_Chapels._
St. Lucia.
St. Roque.
Hospital.
The Cathedral is a large domed building, built of brick, as indeed they
all are. Its outside presents nothing particular, with the exception of
its loftiness; and, in common with the rest, it has crosses placed upon
every prominent part. A new front is building towards the Plaza; but
it gets on very slowly, the scaffolding being so very expensive. The
interior is lofty and spacious; it is ornamented with figures of the
Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus, in glittering attire. Jesus on the
cross, and saints in strict costume, occupy places at the different
altars. Flowers, artificial and real, are plentifully bestowed, and
relics are strewed in all directions, informing the foreigner that he is
in a land where Catholicism once existed in all its pristine grandeur.
These emblems of peace, in the body of the church, are shaded by those
of war from above. Suspended from the ceiling are about twenty flags,
taken from the Spaniards on various occasions, as at Monte Video, Maypu,
&c. _Fernando VII._ is inscribed upon most of them. The grand altar is
adorned with costly gems; and when the large and numerous candles are
lighted, the effect is grand. The organ and choir are good: the tones
of the former vibrating through the aisles, and the kneeling females in
black attire, make an impression of no ordinary nature. The government
and municipal authorities attend at the Cathedral on state and feast
days, forming processions to and from the church. The Sunday mass, about
twelve o'clock, is attended by most of the fashion and beauty of the
town.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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