Have you ever thought about how the places that are part of the Cúcuta heritage are built? Churches and buildings very frequented by the inhabitants of Cucuta, They have valuable architectural structures that few know or they set themselves the task of analyzing.
That is why, with the aim of arousing people’s interest in appropriating their heritage, a series of surveys was born prepared by teachers and students of the Architecture program of the Francisco de Paula Santander University.
What did they discover? Through four books, citizens can take a tour of the most representative buildings of Cúcuta, the geometry and the art that is in each of them.
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The first three books correspond to the hard work done by teachers Yannette Díaz Umaña, Mawency Vergel Ortega and Julio Alfredo Delgado Rojas (QEPD), who after several years of research have reached places such as the cathedral of San José de Cúcuta, the parishes of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria and Nuestra Señora del Carmen to study elements such as stained glass windows, columns and domes.
The opinion talked to Yannette Diaz Humanprofessor of history of art and architecture, who shared some of the most interesting facts that have been found:
The riches of the Cathedral of Cúcuta
Díaz says this to get the books published ‘Among the towers of San José, approximations, to the art, architecture and geometry of the cathedral’ yes ‘The spirit of light, iconographies and geometries of the architecture of the Cathedral of San José de Cúcuta‘, she and the research team had to go a long way which started by taking an inventory of the architectural and artistic pieces found in this place, which was not an easy task.
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“The first thing that was done was to make an inventory for the study of the stained glass windows and other elements. In the case of stained glass windows, there are more than 60 pieces that have a particular story and that are strategically placed where they benefit from sunlight,” she added.
So some of them are located at 5, 11 and 15 meters in height where they should arrive in order to be able to measure them, photograph them and make prospectuses by hand.
“The stained glass windows are made by a French company which has opened a branch in Spain. It was in 1923 when they were still in the making and were made. It is Mauméjean Hnos de París who, in 1925, won the first International Stained Glass Award for his pictorial and artistic qualities”, so having a series of stained glass windows like those in the cathedral is a privilege for the people of Cucuta.
This is how by doing a thorough review, they found that in 2023, the stained glass window will celebrate 100 years of its manufacture and that they are in good condition, although with some haze in the glasses due to the cement and the dust adhering to the material, so it is necessary to maintain them.
The study of bells
Another of the appreciations they have made corresponds to a study of the bells of the cathedral, in which they have managed to establish their origin, dimensions, weight and quality of sound.
The task was to review the epigraphs to find the name of the company that manufactured them, which at that time was located in Bucaramanga and used a cast iron, copper and tin that has been heated to over 1,200 degrees, so it is said to be under this technique “There is no equal bell in the world.”
This too has become an interesting find which has made it possible to compare the information with what is historically documented on the cathedral and to corroborate some data.
The marble
The marble figures in the cathedral also hide interesting historical data that has been analyzed by researchers.
Its development dates back to the work of Pietro Bibolotti, an Italian sculptor who studied at one of the most representative artistic institutions of that country and located in an area of the Tuscany region where marble was extracted and pieces of all kinds were made.
“The incredible thing about this whole affair is that Biboloti was a renowned sculptor, his brother was the one who created the pantograph, a tool that helps switch from plaster figure to marble sculptureand he invented it a few years before he made the cathedral pieces,” said the master.
Which led them to assume that the pantograph was used to assemble these pieces
“We basically released it because it was invented a few years earlier. So we have excellent material, a first-rate sculptor, and a long journey that the marble statues made to reach our cathedral. Cúcuta may be a long way from the most important regions of the world, but With this we certify that it was an important city and that it was given so much importance because it created the best of the best”.
Last year, the teachers received the Juana Rangel de Cuellar Cross from the Cúcuta Council, in recognition of their work, and they also became finalists of the Colombian Architecture Biennial, the most important national event for their profession in the country.
Frontier churches, icons on a modern level
The teachers also decided to delve into the building of churches Our Lady of Candelaria and Our Lady of Mount Carmel through the book ‘The grace of simplicity, interpretations of sacred architecture through two modern border churches’.
In which a step has been taken from the interpretation of the republican style of the Cathedral of Cúcuta to an era of modernity, which in the case of the church of La Candelaria, located in the Sevillian neighborhood of Cúcuta, would dare to say that it is of one of the first modern churches in the country.
This is because it uses a roof system with a thin layer of exposed concrete.
“In Colombia we didn’t have that much technology, in Cúcuta what we see is a modern look with the same qualities as anywhere else in the world, but if we start lookingthis one has an envelope made of bricks, donated by the community”, punctual.
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Is that part of the cucuteños’ ingenuity? For the teachers, what has been done is to exploit the resources to have a modern structure in the city but also with elements of traditional sacred architecture.
And as in the cathedral of Cúcuta, the subject of stained glass also represented interesting discoveries, since in Colombia before the 1950s there were no factories for these pieces and everything was brought from Europe, however This was not the case.
Well, the stained glass window located in the back of the church was made by one of the first companies in the country that started with this processing and was able to discover it thanks to the epigraph found there, contact it and even get to know a photograph of the sketch original.
In the case of the church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen or better known as the Parish of the ‘Carmelitas’, it has particular folded structures that have also aroused the interest of scholars.
Why do you use the fan shape? For teachers, this type of structure was born in Germany, and in Colombia there are not many parishes that use them, because they were very ephemeral and had their peak in the 60s.
But these aren’t the only buildings that have been interpreted by students and teachers, as the book also exists “Digital models in the approach to modern architecture in San José de Cúcuta”published by the teacher Yannette Díaz and the graduates Manuel Guardiola Delgado and Jose Manuel Quiceno in which the Cucutans can get to know other places such as the Rosetal building, the Virgilio Barco Foundation and the Maria Auxiliadora church.
Copies are located in the Eduardo Cote Lamus Library and in the Julio Pérez Ferrero Library in Cúcuta.
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