Cathedral of Guatemala City

Holy Church Cathedral Metropolitan Basilica of Santiago de Guatemala -Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santiago de Guatemala
Guatemala City Cathedral
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Cathedral
Year consecrated	25 March 1815
Status	Active
Location
Location	Guatemala City,  Guatemala
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Neoclassic
Groundbreaking	1782
Completed	1871
Specifications
Direction of façade	West
Dome(s)	1
Materials	Stone

The Holy Church Cathedral Metropolitan Basilica of Santiago de Guatemala also Metropolitan Cathedral, officially Catedral Primada Metropolitana de Santiago, is the main church of Guatemala City and of the Archdiocese of Guatemala (Archidioecesis Guatimalensis).^[1] It is located at the Parque Central in the center of the city. Its massive structure incorporates baroque and classical elements and has withstood numerous earthquakes. Damage by the devastating earthquakes of 1917 and 1976 has been repaired. The inside of the cathedral is relatively sparsely decorated but impresses by its size and its structural strength. The altars are ornate and decorative. In front of the cathedral stand a series of 12 pillars, solemnly remembering the names of thousands of people forcibly disappeared or murdered during the counterinsurgency violence of Guatemala's internal armed conflict, which began in 1960 and lasted until the final peace accord was signed in 1996.

On 28 October 2003, Pope John Paul II authorized the canonical coronation of the Immaculate Conception enshrined within the cathedral which occurred on 5 December 2004. The papal bull was signed and executed by Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.