Santa Lucía Church, Maracaibo

The Santa Lucía Church (Spanish: Iglesia de Santa Lucía)—formally the Ecclesiastical Parish of Santa Lucía—is a Roman Catholic parish church in the historic El Empedrao neighbourhood of Maracaibo, Zulia state, Venezuela. Built between 1867 and 1876, it is the only Gothic Revival church erected in the city during the 19th century. The temple grew out of a group of parishioners who had been meeting in private homes since 1834 to plan a church dedicated to Saint Lucy of Syracuse; construction was eventually ordered by the President of Zulia, General Venancio Pulgar. The building was thoroughly restored in the 20th century by Father José Luis Castellanos with funds raised entirely from the congregation. The church is one of the city's most prominent religious buildings. It is the seat of the local devotion to Saint Lucy—patroness of sight and the throat—which is the most widely observed in Maracaibo after that to Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá. The parish also hosts devotions to Our Lady of the Nativity (its co-patroness, introduced in the late 19th century) and to Saint Benedict the Moor of Calle Delgado. History The cult of Saint Lucy reached the region with Spanish and Italian settlers; records in the Iglesia Parroquial Mayor (the precursor of Maracaibo Cathedral) attest to an altar dedicated to her by 1667. The land later occupied by the church belonged to the cathedral parish. A small caño (creek) sometimes cut residents off from the mother church, and demand grew for a separate place of worship; the civil parish of Santa Lucía had been formally established by 1830. On 31 July 1834 a group of parishioners began meeting at the home of Velasco Ramírez to organise the building of a church to the martyr. Work finally began in July 1867 by order of General Venancio Pulgar and was completed in 1876. The ecclesiastical parish of Santa Lucía was created the following year by Father Tomás Zerpa, who named Father Francisco José Delgado as its first parish priest. The temple was blessed in 1879 and acquired its principal image of Saint Lucy in 1890. In 1910 the parish founded the Sociedad and the Chimbangueles of Saint Benedict the Moor of Calle Delgado. In the 20th century Father José Luis Castellanos Ortiz undertook a full reconstruction of the church, preserving the original Gothic Revival design and financed entirely through parishioner donations. In 1989 the Archdiocese of Maracaibo, over objections from many residents, divided the parish in two: Santa Lucía (between Calle 93 Padilla and Calle 86 Pichincha) and San Benito de Palermo (Pichincha to Calle 78). The new parish initially sought to take with it the image of Saint Benedict housed in a small chapel founded by the Chaparro family on Calle Delgado, but no agreement was reached and the saint's January feast remains under Santa Lucía's care. Architecture Inside the church, tall Gothic Revival arcades give the nave a vertical, monumental character. The temple is the only 19th-century Gothic Revival church in Maracaibo. Detailed documentation of its bells has been compiled by the Spanish bell-founders' association Campaners de la Catedral de València. See also Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maracaibo Maracaibo Cathedral Saint Lucy Gothic Revival architecture References External links Documentation on the bells of Santa Lucía Church – Campaners.com