| What makes it historical? |
Construction on this cathedral, officially Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, started in 1582, planned by five Spanish settlers and built—down to the 30,000 roof tiles—by indigenous artisans and laborers from the Hênia and Kamiare tribes. This first church stood for nearly a hundred years before collapsing on top of a congregation in 1677!
For its next iteration, the Jesuits brought in Italian architects, who redesigned the church to resemble the first Jesuit church back in Rome! The Diocese of Córdoba del Tucumán, the oldest in Argentina, then relocated here in 1699! After partially collapsing again in 1724, it received a Spanish Baroque façade and Neoclassical portico in 1729, then two bell towers in 1787! Today, it’s the final resting place of revolutionaries, General José María Paz and Deán Gregorio Funes, of Córdoba University’s first rector, Bishop Hernando de Trejo y Sanabria, and the Venerable Friar Mamerto Esquiú! |
