How about stepping back in time with me? We are standing before Iglesia del Espíritu Santo in Granada. This church has seen Granada’s story unfold.
Iglesia del Espíritu Santo’s predecessor vanished in 1856. William Walker’s filibusteros bombed its towers. They torched its insides. Imagine the chaos and destruction.
But Granada is resilient. On December 8 1888 they laid the first stone. It was still a parish then. Nicolás Cáceres a Jesuit from Colombia and Andrés Zappata an Italian architect offered their plans.
Construction was slow. José Antonio Castillo and Víctor M. Pérez first led then Bishops Canuto Reyes and Balladares. Carlos Borge and Castillo and Marco Antonio García y Suárez completed the work.
Stone from Posintepe hill formed the walls. Concrete blocks added strength. In 1916 oxen dragged iron framework from San Juan del Sur. This would form the dome.
The dome is a smaller copy of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. By 1928 the dome stood. Yet Iglesia del Espíritu Santo had only one tower. It was unusual for Latin America.
The facade displays neoclassical style. Two bodies make it up. San Carlos Tower stands left. San Canuto Tower stands right. Each tower has three sections. Domes and lanterns top them.
The facade’s atrium is porticoed. It supports a terrace. Twelve Ionic columns mark the main entrance. Four stand in front. Eight stand behind.
Statues fill niches on the front wall. Rafael Villavicencio is one. He saved the host copón from the fire in 1856. Beata María Romero a Granada native is another. She lived from 1902 to 1977.
Of the four chapels one sits on the temple’s north side. It is the chapel of the Santísimo Sacramento. The “Jesús de la Buena Esperanza” rests there in his chair.
A monumental cross made of Posintepe basalt stands at the northeast corner of the side atrium. Master Carlos Ferrey built it. It was inaugurated on January 1 1900.
Iglesia del Espíritu Santo is a symbol of Granada’s rebirth. It rose from ashes. It reflects faith. It mirrors artistic vision. It shows the enduring spirit of its people. It connects us to Granada’s past.