Architecture
Cajamarca is home to six Christian churches of Spanish influence in a Peruvian and Incan landscape. Out of these six churches, three are most notable for their ornamentation and originality. In November if 1532 Pizarro and his men entered the Incan territory of Cajamarca, this initiated the Spanish and Christian conversion of the indigenous Incas. An Inca temple was immediately transformed into a Christian church dedicated to St. Francis. The style of ecclesiastical architecture differs from other Peruvian cities due to the geographic and climatic conditions. Cajamarca is further north with a milder climate, because of this; stone was used in construction, as opposed to clay in the deserts. The six churches in Cajamarca are San Jose, the Franciscan Recoleta, la Immaculada Concepcion, San Antonio, the Cathedral and El Belen. The most famous of these three are the latter three, all categorized as the “contemporary” churches, constructed in the eighteenth century, El Belen was consecrated in 1677, the Cathedral in 1682, and San Antonio in 1699. It is the sculpted facades of these three contemporary churches that make them so notable in Cajamarca.
The facades of all three churches, The Cathedral, San Antonio and El Belen, were all left unfinished, most likely due to lack of funds. The façade of the Cathedral is the largest of the three and most elegantly decorated, yet it is unfinished. El Belen has a complete façade, but with the tower half finished. The San Antonio church is the furthest from completion.
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