Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín
Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
Location	Medellín
Country	Colombia
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Administration
Diocese	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Medellín

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín is a very important Catholic church in Medellín, Colombia. Its full name is the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. This beautiful building is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

You can find the cathedral in the center of Medellín, in the Villanueva neighborhood. It's right next to Bolívar Park. Sometimes, people still call it the Villanueva Cathedral. This name was used a lot when it was being built. It helped people tell it apart from another important church, the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria.

What is a Cathedral?

A cathedral is the main church for a diocese, which is like a church district. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín is the most important church for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Medellin. It's where the Archbishop, who is a very high-ranking church leader, has his main office. It's also the main church for the "Cathedral Parish," which is a local church community.

In 1948, Pope Pius XII gave the cathedral a special title: Minor Basilica. He did this with a special letter called a papal brief on June 12 of that year. This title means the church has special importance to the Pope.

Amazing Architecture

The cathedral was designed by a French architect named Émile Charles Carré. He created it in a Romanesque style. This style often uses round arches and thick walls, making buildings look strong and grand.

The church has a shape like a Latin cross when you look at it from above. It has three long sections inside, called aisles. These are crossed by another section called the transept. The cathedral also has two tall towers that reach 66 meters (about 216 feet) high!

Built with Bricks

This cathedral is incredibly strong because it's made almost entirely of brick. Imagine this: about 1,120,000 bricks were used to build it! Each brick was quite large, about 8 cubic decimeters. All these bricks were held together with mortar, creating a huge structure. The total volume of the building is about 97,000 cubic meters.

A National Treasure

Because it's such a big and important building, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Medellín was declared a national monument of Colombia. This happened on March 12, 1982. This means it's a protected historical site for the whole country.

Art and History Inside

The cathedral also has a small museum of religious art. It's in a room next to the main church. This museum has four rooms, but they are not usually open to the public.

The collection includes about 40 paintings. These paintings are very old, from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. There are also 15 sculptures from the 18th and 19th centuries. One very special artwork inside the cathedral is The Christ of Forgiveness. This piece was created by a famous Colombian artist named Francisco Antonio Cano Cardona.

Images for kids

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  This is a general plan of the Medellín Cathedral.

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  This drawing shows the front view of the cathedral.

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  This image shows a long cut-through view of the cathedral.

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  This image shows a cross-section view of the cathedral.