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The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción is located opposite the Park José Martí.

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The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción (Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception), also called Cienfuegos Cathedral, that draws attention with its two bell towers of different heights, is located opposite the Park José Martí.

History

During the parcellation work and distribution of the plots to the settlers of the newly founded Colonia Fernandina de Jagua, the Infantry Lieutenant Colonel Luis Lorenzo De Clouet y Piette (1766-1848), also the founder of the new colony, reserved the land at the junction of the Santa Isabel (Calle 29) and San Carlos streets (Avenida 56) for the construction of a church and its curial house (the central administration, governing the church). His order was carried out after 14 years and the parish temple was inaugurated at the same place on April 15, 1833. The church was built in bricks and had a square shape. The simple structure didn’t have any portico or bell tower, but about 300 people could fit inside.

The brigadier Ramon Maria de Labra, the unforgetable Governor of Cienfuegos from 1844 to 1848, wanted the church to have the structure it deserved, as much as the importance he gave to education, but his opportunities limited. For this reason, he created a commission of benevolent women and asked to collect money to complete the church. Sufficient money was collected in a short time thanks to the dance parties, concerts, cockfights, and other entertainments organized by this commission. Thus, in January 1848 the first stone was laid for the church's first tower on the right wing of the current building.

The first priest of the incomplete church was Father Antonio Loreto Sánchez Romero.

The construction of the first tower finished in 1850. About the same time, the church got its main altar, and the oil painting of the Virgen de la Purísima Concepción, patron saint of the town, brought by Domingo Sarría Valdespino from Barcelona and donated to the church.

From 1852 to 1861, two new altars were added to the church. Both were in neoclassical style and produced in the town.  One of them, donated by Juana del Castillo, was consecrated to Santa Rita de Casia. The other one was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Maria and paid for by several inhabitants of the town.

In 1866, American civil engineer Santiago Murray was commissioned to build the second tower and a new vault for the church. This second tower, which is located on the left side of the building, was built much higher, as opposed to the smaller one on the right wing. The construction ended in 1869. During this period, the bronze bells of the towers, donated by Albis de Sarría, and the first organ, donated by Tomás Terry, were mounted.

In the period from 1869 to 1875, the wealthiest families of Cienfuegos added so many beautiful things to the church by donations that survived today. These include the French clock with four spheres (donated by Juan Avilés), the altars (donated by Domingo Sarría and Tomás Rivalta), the stained-glass windows representing the twelve apostles (made in Paris and donated by Pedro Eduardo Dorticós). The marble for the floor, some interior elements and the doors were donated by Nicolás Salvador Acea de los Ríos.

In 1920s, a new organ was installed which was manufactured in the Casa de San Ignacio de Loyola by Elizagaray y Cía. This organ is the core of the creation of the Cienfuegos choir by Pedro de Urtiaga many years later.

Between 1820 and 1903 the church in Ciengfuegos was affiliated with the Diocese of Havana. However, on February 20, 1903, the Diocese of Cienfuegos (Dioecesis Centumfocencis) was established by Pope Leo XIII by a papal bull following a Roman rite, and it was consecrated on November 25, 1917. The church was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, patron saint of the Diocese of Cienfuegos. The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. The original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. Every year on December 8, the Day of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary is celebrated by a festival.

It is noteworthy that the Parochial Archive dates back to 1819, the date of the founding of the city.

Along with other historic buildings in the city center, the cathedral was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005.

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left bellfry
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right tower
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front view of the cathedral