Votive Temple of Maipú

Image: Wikimedia Commons

On 5 April 1818 the Battle of Maipú sealed Chile's independence, and Bernardo O'Higgins kept his vow to Our Lady of Mount Carmel by ordering a church on this ground. The first stone of that Chapel of the Victory was blessed in November 1818, yet it opened only in 1892, and earthquakes in 1906 and 1927 badly damaged it. Its ruined walls still stand on the plaza, facing the soaring concrete sanctuary designed by Juan Martínez and consecrated in 1974. Inside, light pours through stained glass by Adolfo Winternitz, made in France in more than a hundred shades, showing the Virgin of Carmel and the story of the faith in Chile. Above the high altar stands a wooden Virgen del Carmen brought from Quito in 1785, which Pope John Paul II crowned in 1987 as Queen of Chile.