El Calvario Church, Hispanic baroque hermitage in Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala.
El Calvario Church is a yellow-hued baroque hermitage featuring three prominent arches at its entrance that symbolize the crosses of Golgotha. The structure sits at the southeastern edge of Antigua Guatemala with a garden area next to it.
Founded on 19 November 1618, when mayor Juan Luis de Pereira donated land at the XII station of the Via Crucis kept by the Franciscan Third Order. The church was completed in 1655, rebuilt after the 1717 San Miguel earthquakes with funds from Captain General Francisco Rodríguez de Rivas and reopened on 11 February 1720. It survived the 1773 Santa Marta earthquakes, though engineer Antonio Marín reported a collapsed dome in the bell tower and cracks in the new camarín.
The name El Calvario refers to Calvary, the hill of the Crucifixion, and the church stands where the Franciscan Third Order kept the Via Crucis stations from their temple; in 1618 mayor Juan Luis de Pereira walked those stations and donated the land at station XII. Masses have been held here since the foundation on 19 November 1618.
The site is located at the southeastern end of Antigua Guatemala and welcomes visitors during daylight hours. Photography is permitted inside, and the attached garden provides a quiet space for walking and observing the surroundings.
The church is one of the few religious structures in Antigua Guatemala that survived both the 1773 Santa Marta earthquakes and the later transfer of the capital. It was founded on 19 November 1618, when mayor Juan Luis de Pereira donated land at the site of the Twelfth Station of the Cross to the Franciscan Third Order.
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