Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, Cusco

Church and Convent of Santo Domingo
Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo
Convent of Santo Domingo
13°31′37.08″S 71°58′37.24″W
Location	Cusco, Peru
Country	Peru
Denomination	Catholic
Religious order	Dominican Order
History
Status	Active
Dedication	Saint Dominic
Consecrated	1633
Architecture
Functional status	Church and Convent
Architectural type	Church
Style	Colonial and Baroque
Administration
Diocese	Archdiocese of Cusco
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Part of	City of Cusco
Criteria	Cultural: iii, iv
Reference	273
Inscription	1983 (7th Session)
Area	Latin America and the Caribbean

The Convent of Santo Domingo is a monastery of the Order of Preachers in the city of Cusco, Peru, built on the site of the Inca temple of Coricancha.

History

In 1534, Juan Pizarro, brother of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, granted the land of the former Inca temple to the Dominican Order after receiving it in the distribution of plots.

The first prior of the convent was Friar Juan de Olías, who arrived with a group of missionaries from Mexico.

The construction of the convent took several years and was officially consecrated in 1633.

In 1650, an earthquake severely damaged the convent's infrastructure, while the Inca-built Coricancha remained intact. Reconstruction lasted until 1680.

After the 1950 Cusco earthquake, the Church of Santo Domingo suffered the most severe damage in the city. The tower arches collapsed, the crossing sustained major destruction, the northwest angle tilted outward, the apse wall cracked, and the balcony overlooking the city fell. In the cloister, all arches were misaligned, rendering the second-floor rooms uninhabitableKubler 1953, pp. 10–12.

The church has three naves, a dome, and a finely carved cedar choir stall, with walls adorned with Sevillian tiles.

References

Sources

• Angles Vargas, Víctor (1983). Historia del Cusco (Cusco Colonial) Tomo II Libro Primero. Lima: Industrialgrafica S.A.
• Kubler, George (1953). "Cuzco Reconstrucción de la ciudad y restauración de sus monumentos Informe de la misión enviada por la Unesco en 1951". UNESCO. Retrieved August 26, 2019.