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 Saint Mark’s Cathedral  St. Mark’s Cathedral, Arica is a compact, Neo‑Gothic church built in 1875–1876 from prefabricated metal components imported after the 1868 earthquake destroyed the original structure. With its distinctive red‑and‑white exterior, a light industrial‑Gothic interior, it has a unique place in South American architectural history. Inside, its single nave leads to a simple sanctuary crowned by a crucifix, while devotional figures - including a reclining Cristo Yacente in a glass case - anchor the cathedral’s spiritual life, making it both a national monument and a serene, deeply human space at the heart of Arica’s Plaza Colón. READ MOREPoconchile Church of San Jerónimo  The Church of San Jerónimo de Poconchile is a 17th‑century Andean–colonial adobe church in Chile’s Lluta Valley, rebuilt in the late 1800s after major earthquakes and preserved today as a National Historic Monument. Its architecture blends Spanish mission design with Indigenous construction methods: thick whitewashed adobe walls, a par‑y‑nudillo wooden roof tied with animal hide, twin wooden bell towers, and a walled atrio containing a Calvario crucifix that anchors local processions. Inside, a single narrow nave leads to a modest retablo where the crucifix is flanked by statues of the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and the patron saint, San Jerónimo, reflecting the region’s Andean‑Catholic devotional pattern. Flanked by an adobe‑walled cemetery in the green oasis of the valley, the church forms a complete ceremonial landscape where architecture, ritual movement, and community memory remain tightly interwoven. READ MORE |
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All Photographs were taken by and are copyright of Ron Gatepain
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