page_title: Iglesia y Convento de la Compañía de Jesús, Antigua Guatemala
section_title: San Miguel and San Casimiro earthquakes
hierarchical_section_title: Iglesia y Convento de la Compañía de Jesús, Antigua Guatemala / History / San Miguel and San Casimiro earthquakes
caption_attribution_description: Español: Interior del templo jesuítico en 1880, con los daños ocasionados por el terremoto del 3 de septiembre de 1874.
context_page_description: The Church and convent of the Society of Jesus in Antigua Guatemala is a religious complex that was built between 1690 and 1698. It was built on a block that is only 325 yards away from the Cathedral of Saint James on a lot that once belonged to the family of famous chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo and had three monastery wings and a church. There were only a maximum of 13 Jesuit priest at any given time in the building, but they also hosted Jesuit brothers and secular students. In the building was the San Lucas School of the Society of Jesus, until the Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies in 1767.
context_section_description: On September 29, 1717, the San Miguel earthquake struck the city and destroyed the San Lucas School building; the tremor cracked the tower and destroyed the top part of the main gate. The master builder of Santiago de Guatemala, Diego de Porres, inspected the damage and calculated that it was necessary to invest between five and six thousand pesos to repair it. Three years later, however, the Jesuits had rebuilt the structure, and when the master builder returned to inspect the building, declared it better and prettier than the original.  However, on March 4, 1751, the San Casimiro earthquake destroyed the church roof forcing the Jesuits to once again ask for help to the parishioners to rebuild; once again, the building was among the most beautiful of the city when the repairs were completed.
  A prosperity period began after the San Casimiro earthquake, as the city saw major improvements, such as street embellishment and tap water system introduction.  A new City Hall was built in and on July 17, 1753 work on the Jesuit plaza in front of the church was finished.
caption: Ruins of the church interior in 1880.
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