CHURCHES

SAN BERNARDO CHURCH, HOSPITAL AND CONVENT
On September 30, 1582, San Bernardo was elected by the town council as Santo Patron, or Patron Saint, to look after the newly founded city. A short time after this election took place; the construction of a Hermitage nearby the Cerro San Bernardo Mountain was started.

The city council kept the patronage of the hermitage, which indicates it took care that the money provided to build it was came from charity and pious gifts as tradition demanded. Its construction is thought to have been concluded during the middle of the 16th century.

The Hermitage suffered both times of periods of abandonment and flourishment. Moreover, in times when the Cathedral was going through a reconstruction, it was used as a Main Church. During the seism that took place in 1697, it turned out severely damaged and in 1714 it was practically in ruins.

Governor Urizar y Arepacochaga decided to have the Hermitage completely re-built in the year 1723. His name was graved on the portal lintel along with this inscription: "Alabado sea el Santísimo Sacramento LDO Urizar" which means "Praised be the Exceedingly Holy Sacrament LDO Urízar". It was additionally enriched with a carved "retablo" or altarpiece, the work of the sculptor master Don Gabriel Gutiérrez de Escobar, who started to work on it in 1720 and finished it in 1728.

The simplicity of forms of the façade and the towers of the small temple were reinforced between 1845 and 1847 to support an image of Santa Teresa on its upper part.

The Hospital was built during the late years of the 16th century and early 17ths as acknowledged in 1626 by Gómez de Ríos and by Governor Alonso de la Rivera. It seems very likely that it was destroyed during the 1692 earthquake, since by the early 18th century nobody mentions it.

The building of the new Hospital was very slow. Until 1726 it could not be used, and moreover, it suffered many inconveniences that impeded it to start its functions. On August 20, 1805 the hospital was finally opened under the care of the Bethlemite Fathers.

With the passing of time, the importance of this hospital diminished so, as a remedy, in 1846 the Presbyter Don Isidoro Fernández brought from Chile the Monjas Carmelitas Descalzas Nuns with the purpose of creating a Nunnery, which was given the name of "Nuevo Carmelo de San Bernardo". So it came to be that the ancient Hermitage and the Hospital annexed to it were turned into the present day Convento de San Bernardo Convent.

The convent facade was restored by the architect Mario J. Buschiazzo. Nowadays it stands as the oldest religious buildings of the Province and has been recognised as a National Historical Monument.

Its portal, carved in carob tree wood, is considered a trasure of Salta colonial art. It was handcrafted by native hands around 1762. Before beein in the convent, this door belonged to the house of the Bernardo de Cámara family. Since the middle of the 19th century, the Monasterio de Carmelitas is there. It's located in Caseros and Santa Fe.

TEMPLE OF OUR LADY OF CANDLEMAS IN VIÑA - SALTA
Around 1630, the owners of the Hacienda La Viña Ranch began the construction of a chapel to host the image of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, brought from the city of Coimbra, in Portugal. Devotion to it developed in short time among the neighbours and on the year 1735 the icon was taken to the Hermitage dedicated to the Nazarene, in the city of Salta.

Alas, towards the end of that century, the chapel lay in ruins. The work to built a new one started in 1873 and the job was entrusted to the Macchi Brothers Company The money needed came from donations from Perú and Bolivia and, to stimulate the delivering of charity by its devotees, a replica of the Virgen de la Candelaria image was taken out on horseback, hence the surname "La Sentadita" which means something like "The Little Seated Lady".

The temple was consecrated on March 25, 1886. An imposing building in Italian style, it stands out as one of the last religious works of this size accomplished on the liberal period of Argentina. The temple's tower, separated from the main body, was expertly designed by master Francisco Righetti, who finished it in 1908, along with the renewal of the façade.

The plan, centered in a Latin cross, has three naves with transepts, accented by semicircular apses. The Presbyterium, standing before the central apse, holds the main altar.

The lateral naves, surrounded by lesser altars, present a ceiling lower than the central nave's vault, which allows for the illumination of the latter. Besides the entrance of the left nave is the circular layout of the baptistery with the baptismal pile in the centre. The baptistery is roofed by a small dome.

The facade is displayed in three bodies, the last of becomes lighter on its sides and holds the pinnacles that will come together in the central nave. Access is accomplished through three arcades framed by Corinth pilasters that support a rich and brilliant wooden plank ceiling.

Named a National Historical Monument in 1982, it is situated in the corner of Alberdi and San Juan streets.