Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, Buenos Aires, Minor basilica in Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar has a single nave with a shallow sail vault and a deep transept, flanked by shallow side chapels. Its facade, by Friar Andrés Blanqui, sets double pilasters under a classical pediment; a two-arch bell gable with the city's first clock, made in London in 1740, stands on one side, and the bell-shaped cupola on the other is clad in Calais tiles added in 1866. The main altar is worked in silver with Upper Peruvian Inca ornament.
The basilica was founded in 1732 by Recollect friars under architect Giovanni Andrea Bianchi with funding from a Zaragoza resident. This origin connects the church to Spanish religious traditions and marks it as an important monument from the early colonial period.
The main altar blends Spanish baroque style with Peruvian silver pieces and Inca ornaments that reflect colonial artistic mixing. You can see this combination of European and American influences throughout the chapel decorations and religious objects.
You can visit the museum rooms in the original cloisters to see religious artworks and historical objects on display. The basilica sits next to Recoleta Cemetery, making it easy to explore both locations during one visit.
The Calais tiles of 1866 cover the bell-shaped cupola of the tower, not the belfry: the two-arch belfry on the right side of the facade carries instead a spherical clock made in 1740 by the London master Thomas Windmill, held to be the first clock in the city.
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