First published: 05/07/19.

Ammon Watkins 0

Catholic Doctrine Temples

Catholic Doctrine Temples (On tentative list)

Catholic Doctrine Temples by Ammon Watkins

With a similar colonial history to the rest of Latin America (Spanish/Portuguese conquest and almost immediate establishment of Catholic missions to "convert the heathens") it seems natural that Colombia would want to recognize this aspect of its history the way Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico have. In a remote southern region of Colombia there are still 7 churches remaining to group together into this TWHS.

We only visited 1, San Andres de Pisimbala, because we were already staying in San Andres to visit Tierradentro WHS and it was a 2 minute walk away from our guesthouse. I hope that it is not representative of the others because it was disappointing. Its most defining features are its thatched roof and simplistic whitewashed style. This church burnt down in 2013 and was presumably reconstructed faithfully to the original and if so there is little value to add to the already listed missions. There are no impressive artworks adorning the interior, no remains of a religious community or compound surrounding the church. Instead, beside it is a school, guesthouse and some shops. The interior was just whitewashed walls, photos of the fire and rebuilding process and the usual alter. It is possible that the other 6 churches have more to offer but I felt the significant effort required wasn't going to yield enough reward. The roads are rough and public transport is scarce and irregular so you would need private transport to reach any of the others in a reasonable time frame. 

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