The building is situated on the
Plaza de Armas. It is designed in the
Spanish Baroque style, and is in the form of a
latin cross, with a
dome above the crossing. The
façade is interesting in that it involves the use of solomonic
columns which were not widely used in New Spain at the time. It has an
octagonal window that was shipped from
Germany and is considered a fine specimen of the glassmakers art. In addition, the front contains a collection of monuments celebrating the twelve apostles, with a clock above, crowned with the sculpture of an
angel that was added in the 19th century. The royal Spanish coat of arms occupied the area below the angel, but was removed in 1874 by architect José Félix Maceira, and the clock, which was acquired in London, was added, giving the façade its present appearance. The
nave is divided from the ambulatories by arches which support the massive ceiling, and has a fine
baptistry chapel on the right, or north side, just inside from the
narthex. Directly opposite, on the south side, inside the
Chapel of Christ of
Mapimí, is the tomb of
St Peter of Jesus Maldonado, a priest and
martyr who was ordained in the
Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in El Paso,
Texas, and
canonised by
Pope John Paul II in 2000. The
chapel is decorated with an 18th-century
retablo, or
reredos containing a venerated image of Christ, in which
Primitive and
Baroque elements are mingled. The chancel contains an unusual double
altar, in which a smaller altar of
Carrara marble was incorporated into the existing larger one of local quarry stone, after the church was built. The organ in the east gallery was built in 1885 by
Hook and Hastings, Op. 1244 (2 manuals, 18 registers), and rebuilt and expanded by
E F Walcker & Cie. in 1960. The Hook and Hastings instrument had, in turn, replaced a
George Jardine organ that was built in 1837, and rebuilt by Jardine in 1869. Little remains of the Jardine or Hook and Hastings organs, the present facade was built locally in 1957 to duplicate the earlier facade which was destroyed by termites. The 1960 organ which was assembled by Alfredo Wolburg, the Mexico representative for E F Walcker, has as the upper manual enclosed division the pipes and mechanism from a three manual Robert Morton organ which was originally installed in a Mexico City movie theatre (the voicing of which suffered greatly during its installation in Chihuahua by Wolburg's lack of understanding of the orchestral style of organ building), the lower manual is on standard Walcker chests that appear to have been new in 1960, as was the console, with a mix of new and old pipework. The organ is still functional, however is in very fragile condition and about 20 years past when it probably should have been rebuilt. The
Blessed Sacrament Chapel, of
baroque and
rococo design, is reached by a door in the south side of the nave. The sculpture above the entrance depicts Our Lady of Regla and her supplicants, Ss
Francis of Assisi and
Rita of Cascia, the patrons of the city, above the
Hebrews Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace (see illustration below). The
Sacred Art Museum is located in the
crypt, adjacent to the
tombs of the past
prelates of the archdiocese. It displays a collection of paintings by such known Colonial-era artists as
Miguel Cabrera,
José de Alcíbar, José de Páez and Antonio de Torres; portraits of Pope
John Paul II and the prelates of Chihuahua are represented as well. The
throne that the
Pope used during his 1990
Mass in Chihuahua and the large and ornate former archbishops
cathedra and canopy are on display, as are contemporary paintings of the cathedral and several life-sized statues of the saints, some of which are two centuries old. ==History==