An amazing historic building. Every time that I am in Buenos Aires I make a point of visiting…read more
Although the Dominicans occupied the site since 1606, it was not until 1751 that they began to raise the present building, designed by the architect Antonio Masella Turin. On June 29 the stone foundation of the temple was laid, but the work did not progress steadily due to disagreements between the designer and the religious order. From 1762 until 1779 construction efforts were renewed by Don Juan de Lezica and Torrezuri as the main benefactor and director of the project. The unfinished church was consecrated on October the 17th of 1783, while architect Manuel Rocha Alvarez Masella continued the work. The following year the tower was completed.
The February 11, 1792, when the necessary donations were gathered, the foundation of the Convent of Santo Domingo began. It was concluded in 1805, as deduced from the absence of further records of expenses on the project.
The June 27, 1806, British troops under General William Beresford attacked Buenos Aires, which was not prepared to face the invasion. On Sunday the 1st of July, Since no religious service would be given at the monastery, the captain Captain Santiago de Liniers and Brémont told Fray Gregorio Torres that should he receive the protection of the Virgin and retake the city, he would donate the invader's colors to the church. The invading force was defeated on the 12th of the month, and Liniers donated the flags on the 24th. They are since then kept at the church.
On July the second of 1807 the British attempted to seize Buenos Aires for the second time. The invaders took refuge in the east tower from where they offered resistance to the forces of the Tercio de Cántabros Montañeses militia unit, commanded by Colonel Pedro Andrés García, in what became known as the Battle of Santo Domingo. The tower was damaged by cannon fire and rebuilt afterwards. The original projectiles have been removed from the structure and replaced with commemorative pieces of wood representing the impacts.
In 1817, the English artist Emeric Essex Vidal visited the city and portrayed it in a series of watercolors. One which included the Church of Santo Domingo. He would comment that the building "(...) is in a state of disrepair, and has nothing noteworthy except for the colors and a fine organ."
The convent photographed in 1900.
During the rule of president Bernardino Rivadavia the Dominicans were expelled from the country. The building became a Natural History Museum in 1826, under the direction of Italian chemist and botanist Pablo Ferrari. It The museum used to contain some 800 pieces of the animal kingdom, 1500 minerals and an unknown number of plants, as well as a numismatic collection of over 1500 pieces. In the upper part of the church an astronomical observatory was built, and a meteorological office was run by another Italian scientist, Octavio Fabrizio Mossotti, who would also between 1828 and 1834 give lectures on physics. Unfortunately, due to the general disinterest in science most of the meteorological records were lost, some of which were used by Humboldt and found their way to the Institute of France. Mossotti's observations on a solar eclipse and the comet Encke were published by the Royal Astronomical Society of London.
The ashes from Manuel Belgrano's body, after being exhumated from the church's
A mausoleum was opened in 1903 by the sculptor Ettore Ximenes and located in the temple courtyard, houses the remains of Manuel Belgrano, who was buried in the habit of the Dominican order. These were first buried under a slab at the entrance of the church, the general will and testament, which belonged to the Third Order of St. Dominic. They are also buried in the convent of the remains of General Belgrano parents, for the generous contributions that had favored the temple and the remains of General Antonio González Balcarce, Hilarion de la Quintana. A plaque reminds Martín de Álzaga, although his remains are in the Recoleta Cemetery in the vault familiar.
In 1910 the convent was elevated to the rank of Basilica by Pope Pius X. The church October 8, 1922 the image of Nuestra Señora del Rosario received a papal coronation procession was a great celebration. A decree signed on May 21, 1942, the Convent was declared a Historic Monument Nacional.
During the burning of churches on June 16, 1955, it was burned and looted losing most of the documents and relics. A restoration project was begun in 1961 after the destruction.
