Digits

Ireland - 26-Jan-25 -

Can you review a tentative site where the components are unknown? We visited the Iglesia de San Francisco in Antigua in the summer of 2016 which would presumably have been one of the supposed 26 components. More churches you say? I would have been the first to say surely saturation point has been reached on the religious sites. But then … the more I thought about it … the more I thought it might be … merited?! The vast majority of sites related to colonialism focus on urban ensembles which don’t necessarily hone in on the role of missionaries in altering the fabric of a region permanently.

Franciscans and Dominicans dominated the evangelisation of areas of Spanish conquest. During the 16th century, the construction of monasteries directly paralleled the route of evangelization, in Yucatán, Chiapas and Guatemala. Franciscans built their churches above Maya temples and oversaw hispanicization of the mayan descendants. Our “Christian missions” connection links sites all over the Americas, yet there are none between Mexico City and Bolivia. Can we imagine if this was Europe that there wouldn’t be anything considered of comparable outstanding universal value to existing sites in the distance between Madrid and Moscow?

A little about the church in Antigua itself, which is perfectly pleasant to visit. Originally built in 1579, parts of this first church still stand today and represent some of the oldest architecture in Antigua. Devastated by earthquakes, it was only partially reconstructed but maintains elements like its façade, characterized by twisted Salomon columns typical of Spanish-American baroque architecture. It contains the relics of Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur, considered the first saint of Guatemala and known as the "Saint Francis of Assisi of the Americas". The church marks the start of Calle los Pasos, which features the Stations of the Cross, a significant religious path traditionally walked solemnly by the faithful.

This site may never see the light of (World Heritage) day, but it has found an unlikely ally in me.