page_title: Basilica of Santo Domingo, Lima
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Basilica of Santo Domingo, Lima / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Tower of Dominican Church, Lima, Peru Abstract: Monk holding clapper of bell. Physical description: 1 photographic print. Notes: LOT subdivision subject: Peru.; Title and other information transcribed from caption card and item.; Photograph copyright by Publishers Photo Service, N.Y.C.; Frank and Frances Carpenter Collection (Library of Congress).
context_page_description: The Basilica and Maximus Convent of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, popularly known as that of Santo Domingo, located in the city of Lima, Lima Region, capital of Peru, it's an architectural set of religious buildings under the invocation to Our Lady of the Rosary and is located at the intersection of the first block of the Jirón Camaná with the second block of Jirón Conde de Superunda, in the historic center of Lima. The historic chapter house of the Basilica of Santo Domingo was the place where the University of San Marcos, officially the first Peruvian university and the oldest university in the Americas, began to function in the 16th century.
context_section_description: The construction of the Convent of Santo Domingo took about 50 years. Its construction began during the foundation of Lima and concluded at the end of 16th century. It was the provincial Friar Tomás de San Martín, who began to carry out the construction of the first church of the Order, being later the superior Friar Sebastián de Ayllón that received aid of the King, finishing the work in the year of 1578.
  The first building was completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1678. A new church was erected by Dominican architect Diego Maroto, and the convent was rebuilt, which had six cloisters and several courtyards before the earthquake of 1687. The church was rebuilt from the transept to the choir, the arches were changed and the number of windows was expanded. As a result, the church acquired breadth, simplicity and uniformity. The materials used in the construction were adobe, brick and calicanto, among others. The quincha served to lighten the weight, to make the structure more flexible and to increase the resistance to the earthquakes, so frequent in this region.
  Because the earthquakes of 1687 and 1746 the set necessitated further modifications, such as the reconstruction of the tower, the main portal of the church and part of the convent, which included changes in the distribution of the cloisters, which is currently can appreciate.
  The church was elevated to the category of Minor Basilica in 1930. The structure of the church was some damaged ten years later by an earthquake and restored in the later years. Years later different environments and the convent's orchard would be lost, when the north section of the apple was demolished, that gave to the Rímac River.
caption: Monk holding clapper of bell in the belfry of the Basilica of Santo Domingo, circa 1923
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