Cathedral of San Juan, Puerto Rico

Although the Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is an older church building, and the Garðar Cathedral Ruins in Greenland were built and served as a cathedral much earlier, the Cathedral of San Juan holds the distinction of being the oldest existing purpose-built cathedral church in the Americas.^[4] This is because San Juan, then known as the City of Puerto Rico, was the first diocese of the New World in the post-Columbus era (excluding Norse settlements in Greenland), with Bishop Don Alonso Manso appointed in 1511.^[8]

The original cathedral of the nascent Ciudad de Puerto Rico (formally established as Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista in 1521) was constructed from wood from 1513,^[9] intended to become the seat of the First Catholic Diocese to be established in the Americas, founded earlier in 1511.^[10] That same year, the Escuela de gramática (Grammar School) was established by Bishop Alonso Manso, in the area where the modern cathedral would later be constructed. This was the first school to be established in the island of Puerto Rico. It was free of charge and the courses taught were Latin language, literature, history, science, art, philosophy and theology.^[11] The original wooden structure was destroyed by a hurricane in 1529, which prompted the construction of a stone building from 1535 to 1542.^[2][12]

The original cathedral structure completed in the second half of the 16th century was built in the Gothic style of architecture.^[13] This style can still be appreciated in several gothic vaults located in the northeast corner of the building. An earthquake in 1787 resulted in structural damages to the building which prompted a reconstruction of the cathedral in 1802 that resulted in its current Baroque style iteration. Another earthquake in 1867 prompted further modifications to the facade in 1905.^[12][14][15]

The first organist of the Cathedral of San Juan was the Canarian Domingo Crisanto Delgado Gómez^[16][17] who came from the island of Tenerife and managed to take this position in 1836, having been a composer in Cathedral Our Lady of Los Remedios of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in his native island.^[17]

Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, who was archbishop of San Juan from 1965 to 1999, petitioned the Holy See to designate the historic cathedral a basilica in the 1970s. The cathedral finally was proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI on January 25, 1978. The cathedral was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1984 as part of his pastoral visits to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic that same year.^[14]

A private Puerto Rican foundation known as Fundación Protectora de la Catedral Metropolitana de San Juan, Inc. was established to fund the historical restoration of the building and its art treasures for its 500th anniversary in 2021, and to protect it for the coming centuries.^[18]

Being one of the oldest churches and religious institutions in the Americas, the cathedral holds a large and rich church treasury that showcases not only the history of the church but also the history of San Juan from its foundation in the 16th century to the present day. The treasury consists of sacred artifacts, relics and reliquaries, manuscripts and other important liturgical and other historical documents. The treasury today, particularly its historic religious silverware, is displayed as part of the art and history collection of the Museum of San Juan, which is located nearby in the Mercado subbarrio of Old San Juan.^[24]

• 
  Inside the cathedral nave.
• 
  Shrine of Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago.
• 
  Close-up of Our Lady of Providence shrine.
• 
  Tomb of Juan Alejo de Arizmendi.
• 
  Tomb of Alonso Manso.

• List of the oldest buildings in Puerto Rico
• San José Church
• Capilla del Cristo
• Casa Blanca (San Juan)
• List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States
• List of cathedrals in the United States