Coro Cathedral (Santa Ana de Coro)
Venezuela's oldest cathedral, begun 1583, at the centre of Coro's World Heritage colonial quarter.
Coro was the first Spanish town on the Venezuelan mainland and in 1531 became the seat of the earliest diocese on the South American continent. An initial church was sacked by corsairs in the 1560s, and work on the present stone cathedral began in 1583. Francisco Ramírez raised the dome and side vaults between 1608 and 1615, Bartolomé de Nevada took charge of the remaining work, and the building was in use by 1634. It is generally regarded as the oldest surviving cathedral in Venezuela.
The design is restrained and Renaissance in feeling: a two-stage front with a pedimented centre, semicircular pilasters flanking the main door, and a square bell tower entered from inside the church. Three naves are separated by semicircular arches on Tuscan columns. Thick walls and few openings suit both the heat and the risk of attack from the coast. The cathedral was declared a national historic monument in August 1960 and stands at the centre of the colonial town of Coro, inscribed by UNESCO in 1993.
Highlights
- Begun 1583 and in use by 1634, the oldest cathedral in Venezuela
- Three naves on Tuscan columns beneath a masonry dome
- Square bell tower with an internal stair
- National historic monument since August 1960
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![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
