The 7 colonial temples of El Tocuyo: churches, convents and ruins

During the colonial period, El Tocuyo was known as "Venezuela's little Rome" for the abundance of churches, convents and chapels that were erected in its urban core. It came to have more than seven important temples active at the same time, an enormous number for a city of its size and proof of the religious importance it had between 1545 and 1620.

The context: colonial religious capital

When Juan de Carvajal founded El Tocuyo on December 7, 1545, the city became, in a very short time, the second capital of the Province of Venezuela and the religious center of the country's central-west. The great religious orders of the time — Franciscans, Dominicans, Capuchins — established themselves there, founding their own convents and churches.

The works were erected between the 16th and 18th centuries, in Venezuelan colonial style with Andalusian and Quito influences. The 1950 earthquake destroyed almost all this heritage, but the documentary and historical memory allows us to reconstruct what existed. → More on the earthquake.

1. Matrix Church of the Immaculate Conception

The main and oldest church, founded simultaneously with the city in 1545. It was a colonial basilica with three naves with a Baroque golden altarpiece, masonry columns and bell tower. Destroyed in the 1950 earthquake and rebuilt with a donation from Pope Pius XII in 1959.

→ Read its complete history

2. San Francisco Convent and Church

The Franciscans arrived in El Tocuyo at the end of the 16th century and built one of the first convents in Venezuela. The convent church had:

• Three naves with arcades.
• Cloister with central garden.
• Cells for the religious.
• Spacious refectory.
• Productive vegetable garden.

The ruins of the San Francisco Convent are today one of the few surviving colonial remains of El Tocuyo, declared Heritage. → Read about the colonial convents.

3. Santo Domingo Convent and Church

The Dominicans founded their convent in the mid-16th century. It was an important religious complex, with conventual church, library, theology school and cells. Its academic importance was notable during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The ruins of the Santo Domingo Convent did not survive the earthquake, but there are detailed documentary references of its structure.

4. Capuchin Church

The Capuchins — reformed branch of the Franciscans — settled in El Tocuyo in the 18th century and built their church and residence. It had a missionary function towards the indigenous communities of the valley.

5. San Juan Bautista Church

Temple dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, especially important in the festivities of June 24. It was a parish church with its own faithful, located in one of the traditional neighborhoods of El Tocuyo.

6. Church or Chapel of El Calvario

Chapel erected in the El Calvario sector — historic neighborhood of El Tocuyo — and dedicated to Holy Week processions. Here the offices of Good Friday and the Stations of the Cross were celebrated. The sector remains important in popular religiosity of Tocuyo, especially in the May Cross vigils. → Read about the vigils.

7. Church or Chapel of Belén

Minor historical chapel, located in another of the sectors of the urban core. Its dedication to the Virgin of Bethlehem was linked to the December celebrations and the Child's Stand-Ups.

Other colonial temples

In addition to the seven main ones, in El Tocuyo there existed at different colonial moments:

• Church of Las Mercedes (linked to the Mercedarians).
• Chapel of the Hospitals (religious care for the sick).
• Private oratories in haciendas and patrician houses.
• Rural chapels in parishes of Morán Municipality.

The devastation of the 1950 earthquake

On August 3, 1950, the earthquake of magnitude 6.5 destroyed almost all the colonial religious heritage of El Tocuyo:

• Matrix Church: collapsed (rebuilt in 1959 with papal support).
• San Francisco Convent: reduced to ruins (preserved today).
• Santo Domingo Convent: razed.
• Capuchin Church: severely damaged.
• Minor chapels: many lost or subsequently demolished.

Also lost:

• Baroque golden altarpieces of the 17th century.
• Colonial paintings attributed to the Quito school and to the Painter of Tocuyo.
• Centuries-old religious images.
• Carved cedar seats.
• Historic organs.

→ Read the complete history of the earthquake

What remains today

Today are preserved:

• Rebuilt matrix church (1959).
• Ruins of the San Francisco Convent (declared heritage).
• Some remains of walls and façades in other areas of the historic center.
• Rescued religious images preserved in the Colonial Museum.

Why this memory matters

Knowing the seven colonial temples of El Tocuyo is reconstructing the spiritual dimension of the Mother City. The density of churches and convents is direct proof that this was not "any city" in the colony: it was the ecclesiastical head of central-western Venezuela. The physical heritage was largely lost in 1950, but the historical memory remains.

→ Read more about colonial history | Visit the Inmaculada Concepción Church