The Basilica of Our Lady of Solitude is a Roman Catholic Basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 located in Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. It was built between 1682 and 1690, and is a sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life...

, patron saint of Oaxaca. The architecture style is Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

, and was intentionally built with low spires

Spires

Spires may refer to:* SPIRES, a database for publications in High-Energy Physics* Speyer , a city in Germany* The Spires, a commercial conference centre, operated out of Church House, Belfast by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland...

 and towers, as to better resist earthquakes. The Basilica de la Soledad is part of the Historic Center of Oaxaca City, which was declared World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 by UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 in 1987.

History

The construction of the Basilica began in 1682 and in 1690 was consecrated by Bishop Sariñana y Cuenca. It was designed by Father Fernando Méndez and the current facade was built between 1717 and 1718, with the assistance of Bishop Angel Maldonado.

Description

The Basilica of La Soledad is laid out in the shape of a Latin cross. The building was constructed from green cantera

Cantera (stone)

Cantera is a quartz based volcanic stone used as a structural and decorative architectural element in some regions of Mexico where it is found.The stone's color may vary depending on the impurities present in the stone of a particular region...

, a stone common in parts of Oaxaca. The west gallery contains a baroque pipe organ

Pipe organ

The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...

 dated 1686, restored to playing condition in 2000.

See also

• Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán
• Baroque architecture
  Baroque architecture
  Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
  
  
• Oaxaca de Juárez