Origin and development of Neo-Gothic in the Catholic churches of the city and province of Buenos Aires

Abstract

The rise of the Gothic Revival in Argentina took place under very particular political, economic and religious circumstances. Soon after Argentine independence in 1810, the country’s authorities promoted immigration. By the late 1820s, English-speaking residents numbered around 7000. Most, as well as a small group of Germans, belonged to various Protestant denominations. In 1834 the Scottish architect Richard Adams designed a funeral chapel for the Protestant cemetery in Buenos Aires. It was Argentina’s first Neo-Gothic edifice. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Gothic style became popular among all Protestant groups. And, by the 1880s, Roman Catholics were beginning to adopt the Gothic mode as well, not only for parish churches, but also for cathedrals and pilgrimage basilicas. Catholics generally looked to Tuscan and French Gothic as sources of inspiration for their Gothic Revival churches.