Catedral Metropolitana

The Cathedral of Guatemala City, also Metropolitan Cathedral, officially Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santiago, is the main church of Guatemala City and of the Archdiocese of Guatemala . It is located at the Parque Central in the center of the city. Its massive structure incorporates baroque and classical elements and has withstood numerous earthquakes. Damage by the devastating earthquakes of 1917 and 1976 has been repaired. The inside of the cathedral is relatively sparsely decorated but impresses by its size and its structural strength. The altars are ornate and decorative. In front of the cathedral stand a series of 12 pillars, solemnly remembering the names of thousands of people forcibly disappeared or murdered during the counterinsurgency violence of Guatemala's internal armed conflict, which began in 1960 and lasted until the final peace accord was signed in 1996. On 28 October 2003, Pope John Paul II authorized the Canonical coronation of the Immaculate Conception enshrined within the Cathedral which occurred on 5 December 2004. The papal bull was signed and executed by Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Cult and Discipline of Sacraments.
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