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El Sagrario, the Church That Took on a Life of its Own!El Sagrario - meaning sanctuary - Church on Garcia Moreno, next to the cathedral, developed into a chapel derived from the Catedral. It faces Centro Cultural Metropolitano, which evolved from Universidad Central or Central University.Completed in the mid 1700's to care for the priests' needs, it solidly and determinedly took on a life of its own serving the needs of the parish as a chapel rather than remaining a sanctuary for the priests.
The unappreciated indigenous continued unnoticed for their very important contribution in the architecture until recently... their art stigmatized as "Indian." Besides Bernardo Legarda, two other names shine - Francisco Tipan, artist and Blas Cimbana, sculptor. His untimely death left the finishing of his work to Pasqual de Rojas. Adornments were designed under Spanish direction, as the custom of the day mandated. A central vault leads up to an elegant dome, where more Legarda frescos of biblical scenes dominate. Some are assembled on different levels in breathtaking magnificence. You need a tour guide in order to view these. El Sagrario Church joins the rest of the best in a test. Although no history of miracles exists, it only means that miracles that may have happened here went unrecorded.
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