Union Church, Valparaíso, Protestant church monument in Valparaíso, Chile.
Union Church is a brick-and-lime masonry church with stone foundations on Condell Street, near Plaza Victoria. Its neo-Gothic design by architect John Livingstone has austere English and Scottish lines, with arches resting on slender columns that visually divide the naves. The exposed wooden roof frames the main nave, and the building and its front garden sit below street level.
David Trumbull, sent by two American missionary organisations, arrived in Valparaíso in 1845 and founded the congregation in 1847. The temple on what was then San Juan de Dios street, now Condell, was designed by architect John Livingstone and legally inaugurated in 1870. A law of 1865 allowed non-Catholic worship only in private, so shutters hid the building from the street, no bell tower could be raised and the choir sang softly. In 1946 it was sold to the Presbyterian Church of Chile.
The congregation was founded in 1847 by David Trumbull, sent by two American missionary organisations. Until 1865 non-Catholic worship had to stay private, so the church was built with screens hiding it from the street, no bell tower, and a choir told to sing quietly. A plaque on the facade records the 1946 sale to the Presbyterian Church of Chile.
The church stands on Condell Street, a few steps from Plaza Victoria, in the El Almendral district. Both the building and its front garden sit below street level because roadworks around 1910 raised the roadway of what was then San Juan de Dios Street. Look for the entrance at the lower level rather than at pavement height.
The building received official designation as a Historical Monument of Chile, protecting its architectural form for future generations. This recognition highlights its importance as evidence of European settlement in Valparaíso.
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