Iglesia de la Santa Cruz
Iglesia de la Santa Cruz
Barahona, Dominican Republic, 1992-96
Gustavo L. Moré with Sarah Hernandez, Ricardo Martinez and Guaroa Noboa
Spanish / English
Iglesia de la Santa Cruz
Holy Cross of Barahona Old Parish Church
From modernity to recovering Republican tradition
Barahona is a region in the Dominican southwest, dominated by a rural and mountainous landscape. The presence of the Bahoruco Mountains (high protected place in the local indigenous language) and the extraordinary Enriquillo Lake (named in honor of the man who carried out the first indigenous, American uprising) endows the area with an historical and geographic appeal that is just beginning to be recognized by the public and private sectors. In addition, the lovely Caribbean coastline on which lie towns such as Los Patos (The Ducks), Paraiso (Paradise), Enriquillo, and Oviedo, as well as the Jaragua Natural Reserve (named after another of the main indigenious leaders) at the southern tip of the island act as a backdrop to this pretty town of 60,000 inhabitants, founded in 1802 by the iniciative of haitian commander Toussaint Louverture.
Around the beginning of the 20th century, the town experienced an acceleration of its economic development. Coffee plantations in the surrounding mountains and sugar plantations in the valleys brought about a growing wealth for certain families in the region, such as that of Luis Delmonte, a passionate Barahona business man who wished to provide his community with its first permanent church.
The present church of the Holy Cross occupies the same site as that first structure, made of wood with a galvanized sheet roof, built at the initiative of moseigneur Meriño and consecrated in 1884. The later church was built around 1922, but was not consecrated until 1928 by Monseigneur Nouel, after the American military occupation.
We have no information as to the building's designer. Through investigations, we have been able to identify certain characteristics of style which seem to indicate the same designer, Osvaldo Báez, Municipal Engineer: the now-destroyed Municipal Slaughter house of the city of Santo Domingo (officially attributed to Báez); the Gazebo in San Cristobal's Central Park, and; the Barahona Church. Judging from the style presented in all three buildings, they seem to be the work of this important Dominican professional, graduated from the civil engineering school of Paris (ponts et chaussées) and father of one of the country's most important town-planner and restorers, José Ramón Báez López-Pehna.
In any case, the church was already in use as of 1919. Pictures from that time show the absence of what would later be added as a presbytery, a building of masonry of mediocre quality for which we substituted something esthetically and functionally better integrated to the appearance of this lovely and picturesque church of a single nave, originally covered by galvanized steel sheets over a framework of wood. There is also a statue of Jesus on a rectangular base in the southeast corner of the grounds that was added much later (about 1950).
One of the more important phases of this project was the replacement of the original roof by a more durable one made of clay tiles of local origin. This decision resulted in the addition of an intermediate framework above that existing - this last also replaced due to its bad condition - not only because of the added weight on the structure, but also to complement the rigidity of the dovetailed ceiling made of treated pine, also completely replaced.
The doors and windows were changed, while respecting the original design of the crescent and rose windows. the new wood was Hondurean mahogany, stained and protected when used outdoors due to the harsh southern sun. We put in vertical shutters when designing the windows, allowing for more flexible, interior ventilation and the possibility of totally opening the windows.
The original tile floor had been placed on a compacted base of sand and salpetre, completely worn down from use and increasing humidity. We chose to lay a new base of reinforced concrete over which were placed gray, black, and white flagstones produced in the very town.
The Bishop of Barahona asked us to design a new fence which would carry the style of the church up to the edge of the property. This style was also applied to the creation of a new mosaic floor and elsewhere as needed. Given the importance of the ornamental details and the stucco, they are reflected in the design of the fence's square columns as well as in the lines of the new presbytery behind the apse's wall. The grounds were defined taking into consideration the various entries to the church, and planted with royal palm tree so as to allow an unhampered view of the building. Existing acacias were kept around the western side of the grounds. Both the yellow and brown colors of the building-typical of almost all parish churches of that time - were found during our research on color. We chose to accentuate the brilliance of the yellow, as a precaution against its future degradation by the rays of the sun.
All the interiors furniture is of a new design, as we could obtain no information regarding the original style. We decided on a stylized design typical of that period as best expressed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The presence of Antonin Nechodoma in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico - and who so well interpreted Wright in the tropics - inspired us to a similar design.
The Bishop of Barahona has undertaken the transfer of the remains of the spanish priest, Miguel Fuertes Lloren to a niche in the nave of the church. Father Fuertes was a notable priest in the early 20th century, not only for his labors for the church, but also for his important studies of Dominican botanic, an undertaking that brought him numerous national and international prizes. In his honor, there are plans to develop a garden of a conservationist nature on the grounds amongst the royal palms.
