Ruins of the Church of Santa Clara (Ruinas de Santa Clara) description and photos - Guatemala: Antigua Guatemala (Topic)

Ruins of the Church of Santa Clara (Ruinas de Santa Clara) description and photos - Guatemala: Antigua Guatemala. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Ruinas de Santa Clara.

Photo and description

The Santa Clara Monastery is located on 2nd North Avenue. The large, spacious monastery was founded in 1699 with funds donated by Jose Hurtado de Arria and Maria Ventura Arrivilaga. Initially it was a small church and several houses around, which sheltered five nuns. They occupied the monastery from January 14, 1700, from the day of its official foundation. In 1703, the official construction of the complex began, completed two years later.

According to descriptions from various sources, it was a building with a tiled roof, partially destroyed after the earthquake in 1717. The reconstruction work lasted almost 26 years and was financed mainly by private individuals. Almost nothing of the original buildings has survived, many changes have been made, the church and the monastery were reopened and consecrated on August 11, 1734.

All efforts to bring the monastery courtyard and structures into proper condition went to waste after another natural disaster in 1773, when an earthquake razed all buildings to the ground. Another attempt was made to restore the cult site, but in 1874 there was another tremor that destroyed the complex.

Today you can see landscaped gardens that emphasize the central courtyard around the two-level fountain. A distinctive feature of the complex is that its facade is inside, richly decorated with stucco molding, just like the facade of the church. The external decoration of the walls is unremarkable; the interior has preserved corridors with arches around the patio.

The most interesting site is the underground part of the monastery, which is perfectly preserved, with multifunctional rooms, crypts and burial rooms. At one time it was one of the largest religious buildings in the city.

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Topic: Ruins of the Church of Santa Clara (Ruinas de Santa Clara) description and photos - Guatemala: Antigua Guatemala.