Church of St. Dominic
   Photo: Church of St. Dominic

Church of St. Dominic (Santo Domingo) - Catholic church in the city of Santiago de Chile. A place where now stands the church and the monastery belongs to the Dominican monks in 1557, as the Dominican Order was one of the first religious orders, who arrived in Chile in the XVI century. But three previous temple building, erected on the site, were destroyed during the earthquake in 1595, 1647 and 1730, which affected the further local urban planning.

Historically, that the Dominicans have always paid great importance to the process and the education and training of believers. In 1622 there was opened the first Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Construction of the temple was started in 1747 by the architect Juan de los Santos Vaskontsellos. In 1795, the architect Joaquín Toeska took full responsibility on the final stage of construction of the building of the temple.

The architectural complex consists of a monastery and church. Church of Santo Domingo was built in neoclassical style with some typical elements of the Baroque. In the church of Santo Domingo, the most interesting to explore is the sculpture of Our Lady of the Rosary, St. Pius V, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Rose of Lima.

Church of St. Dominic was declared a national monument of Chile in 1951.

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