St. James the Apostle Cathedral, Santiago de los Caballeros, Catholic cathedral in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.

St. James the Apostle Cathedral is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros, in the Dominican Republic. The present eclectic-style building was erected between 1868 and 1894 and consecrated in 1895, replacing a parish church destroyed by the 1842 earthquake. It follows the Roman or Latin rite and is dedicated to St. James the Greater, son of Zebedee and Salome.

The current building was constructed after an earthquake destroyed the original church in 1842, with work continuing through 1894. The long construction period coincided with a turbulent time in Dominican history, which repeatedly interrupted progress on the site.

The cathedral holds the seat of the Archdiocese of Santiago, making it the main religious gathering point for the city. Visitors who step inside will find an active place of worship where religious ceremonies are still a central part of daily life in the city center.

The cathedral sits directly on Parque Duarte in the city center and is easy to reach on foot from most central points in Santiago. Since it is an active church, visiting outside of main service times gives you more room to look around inside without disturbing worshippers.

The unfinished building was briefly used as a fortress during the Guerra de Restauración, the Restoration War, not an independence conflict. Construction begun in 1868 stalled for lack of funds, and the church was only consecrated in 1895, so the defensive use came decades before it became a cathedral.