Inside Guatapé's Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Carmen

Guatapé's main square is dominated by its church, and it has its own long, slow-built history that most day-trippers walk right past.

A 70-year construction

Construction on the Parroquia Nuestra Señora del Carmen began in 1865, and the first stage was inaugurated just two years later, in 1867 -- the same year Guatapé was formally erected as a municipality. But finishing the entire building took roughly 70 years in total, well into the 20th century, as the town built it out gradually.

Architecture

The church is built in a Greco-Roman style, marked by large arches and circular bevels decorating the base and top of its columns. Inside, a Greco-Roman-style choir and richly carved wooden altarwork give the interior a weight that belies the town's small size.

Details worth noticing

The facade carries its own set of rhomboid zócalos -- Guatapé's signature decorative style -- along the lower wall, and above them a Louis XIV-style French clock with Roman numerals, installed in 1930. Local lore holds that the clockmaker deliberately rendered the number four unusually, a quiet signature on the design. The bells were installed in 1932.

The patron saint

The church is dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Our Lady of Mount Carmel), who also holds the distinction of being the patron saint of drivers in Colombian Catholic tradition -- it's not unusual to see a quick stop and blessing before a road trip.

Visiting

The church sits directly on the main square, entry is free, and it's an easy stop to combine with a walk past the zócalo-covered buildings nearby and the famous umbrella street just behind it.