Church of The Rosary of Nueva Pompeya
According to account history, in the city of Pompeii, (Italy), recently sanctified Bartolo Longo noticed a deteriorated portrait on the verge of being disposed of by incineration; without whose portrait it was, he became enamored with it while observing the burning canvas. The portrait was of the Virgin of Rosario, flanked by Santo Domingo and St. Catherine of Siena.
Becoming a fervent devotee, he begins to spread its cult and years later, he migrates to Argentina, where he settles in a riverbank area on the Buenos Aires southside and preaches the virtue of the "Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeya" to all and sundry. The then-undeveloped area soon becomes Nueva Pompeya and the saints in the portrait soon grace the name of two of the area's main streets. On May 14, 1896, the first stone is blessed for the construction of a chapel on land donated by the ladies of St. Vincent de Paul of the parish of neighboring San Cristóbal.
Its construction, directed by the architect and painter Augusto César Ferrari, went expeditiously and the Church of the Rosary of Nueva Pompeya was consecrated on June 29, 1900, becoming a parish in 1905.
This house of worship stands out for its stately lines of Gothic Revival architecture, a style that became popular in other areas of Buenos Aires. Dominated by a single tower, the large windows on the nave decorated with wonderful vitrales of German origin in the form of pointed arcs that represent the fifteen mysteries of Santo Rosario. Small lateral towers were forged out of iron, as was the ornate main portal.
Inside, oil portraits of 19th century merchant clippers and historical events line the walls and religious figures grace the main hall, accented also by religious statues. In center of the patio there is a bronze monument to the Virgin of Pompeii. Several portions of the church were built with rubble from the A.D. 79 destruction of the namesake city; the church was expanded in the 1920s to accommodate the growing numbers of faithful.
The church, in addition, exhibits an ornate wall clock imported by Father Agustín de Pamplona from Spain in 1923. It wasn't until 1935, however, when bells began to sound at the Church, after their installation by local expert watchmaker Enrique Borneman. The Church of the Rosary of Nueva Pompeya remains among the most visited and architecturally significant in Buenos Aires.
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Coordinates: 34°39′S 58°25′W / 34.65°S 58.417°W / -34.65; -58.417
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—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)