Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento

About Basílica del Santísimo Sacramento

📜 History

The Basilica of the Blessed Sacrament was erected at the initiative of Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, a prominent figure in Buenos Aires society in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The design was entrusted to the architects Coulomb and Chauvet, who took the cathedral of Angoulême, in France, as their model. The work required eight years of labor and the temple was consecrated in 1914. Its location in the Retiro neighborhood, at San Martín Street 1039, places it in the heart of the historic center of Buenos Aires, just a few meters from the Anchorena Palace. The construction required the importation of materials from different regions of Europe, reflecting the scale of the project. In 1912, the Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll workshop was commissioned to build a large organ for the temple; the instrument was installed in 1915, one year after the consecration of the building. Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, who financed and promoted the construction, is buried in the temple's crypt. The basilica came under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires and has been dedicated since its foundation to the worship of the Blessed Sacrament.

🏛️ Architecture

The building was designed in an eclectic style, with an interior of marked neo-Gothic character, and inspired by the cathedral of Angoulême, in France. The main façade is crowned by three towers, while two others rise at the apse, for a total of five towers that define the temple's exterior silhouette. The interior is articulated into three naves. For the construction, materials of diverse European origin were used: granite from Baveno and the Vosges, red marble from Verona, white marble from Carrara, Moroccan garnet onyx, blue granite, Venetian majolica, and sculptures in white marble. The organ was built by the Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll workshop in 1912 and installed in the temple in 1915. The instrument has four manuals, a pedal keyboard, 4,980 pipes made of tin, lead, pine, and zinc, and 73 stops. It is the largest organ in South America and the largest example of Cavaillé-Coll manufacture installed outside of France. The first piece performed on the instrument during its inauguration was the Fifth Symphony by Charles-Marie Widor.

⭐ Key Facts

The basilica occupies a relevant place in the religious and social life of Buenos Aires. Since its consecration in 1914, the temple has been the site of ceremonies for Buenos Aires society, including weddings of families with long-standing history in the city. It is located in the Retiro neighborhood, approximately 150 meters from the Anchorena Palace, placing it in one of the historically densest sectors of the capital's center. The worship celebrated in the temple focuses on the Blessed Sacrament, a devotion corresponding to the central mystery of Roman Catholic liturgy. The crypt houses the remains of Mercedes Castellanos de Anchorena, who promoted and financed the construction at the beginning of the 20th century. The presence of the Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll organ, the largest in South America and a reference for sacred music in the region, gives the temple a cultural dimension that surpasses the strictly liturgical sphere. The complex is part of the heritage fabric of the historic center of Buenos Aires and is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.

The temple is open for worship in the Retiro neighborhood, at San Martín Street 1039 in Buenos Aires. Those who tour the historic center of the city can stop inside to appreciate the variety of marbles, granites, and majolicas that compose its ornamentation, as well as the scale and sound of the Cavaillé-Coll organ during one of the liturgical celebrations. The crypt and the naves of the building offer direct testimony to the architectural and religious history of Buenos Aires at the beginning of the 20th century.

✍️ Curated by Benjamín Restrepo · Last updated: 2026-01-07
Information verified by the EncuentraIglesias editorial team