Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón (Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) is a notable and historic Roman Catholic church located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Medellín, which is worth seeing if you like old and historic churches.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón is a church that is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the invocation of the Sacred Heart. The church is also known as Iglesia de Buenos Aires. And it has a history that traces back to 1902.

In addition, it’s an Neo-Gothic-style church that has many stained-glass windows and pieces of religious artwork.

Note the above photo is the central nave in the church during mass.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

History of Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

In March 1896, the inhabitants of the Buenos Aires neighborhood requested permission to build a church in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro).  However, there is no evidence that this church was ever built.

In August 1902, the inhabitants of the Buenos Aires neighborhood petitioned Archbishop Joaquín Pardo Vergara for permission to build a temple in Buenos Aires and affirmed they had land that was donated to build the church. And in September of the same year, permission was granted.

In late 1902, archbishop Vergara blessed the first stone marking the beginning to the church construction project. The church was designed by architect Francisco Nevechi. And the land was donated by Mercedes Saldarriaga de Botero.

Father Sabino Giraldo was the first person in charge of construction in 1902 and later Father Luis Gaviria was in charge of construction until the church was completed.

Finally, on August 12, 1931, Archbishop Manuel José Caycedo Martínez inaugurated and blessed the new church.

The central nave in Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

Inside Catedral Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes in Caladas

Inside the church you will find a beautiful white and green colored interior with some gold trim. And the church has wooden pews like most churches in Colombia.

The church only has one longitudinal nave, which is crossed by transverse nave that forms the arms of a cross. In addition, the church has several relatively simple stained-glass windows throughout the church.

Stained-glass window in Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

Another stained-glass window

Furthermore, there are many pieces of religious artwork to be found throughout this church including several paintings.

Religious artwork in the church

Another of the many pieces of religious artwork

One of the paintings in the church

Another of the many paintings in the church

And like many other churches in the area, Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón has confessionals on both the right and left sides.

One of the confessionals in the church

Also, the church has an organ on the second floor. Reportedly the organ arrived in 1950. Not many of the churches in Medellín we have looked at have an organ.

Organ on the second floor

How to Get to Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

The easiest way to get to Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón is by using the Medellín Metro. To get there take the Line A metro to the San Antonio station in El Centro and then take the tranvía tramcar line (Line T-A).

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón is located along Calle Ayacucho where the tram runs and is between two of the tram line stations: Buenos Aires and Bicentenario.

The tranvía tramline runs in front of the church

The church is located a bit closer to the Bicentenario station. In addition, it’s located only about a block from Mercado Del Tranvía.

An alternate way to get to the church is via a taxi from your location. The tramline is a major landmark in the city. So, you could give the driver the below address and say “Iglesia de Buenos Aires cerca linea tranvía del metro”.

Address: Calle 48A # 35-20, Buenos Aires, Medellín

Phone: +57 4 217 2599

Email: pnsdsc@gmail.com

Hours: The church has a mass schedule as follows:

• Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 7 am, 8 am and 7 pm
• Tuesday: 7 am, 8 am, 4 pm and 6 pm
• Saturday: 7 am, 8 am, noon, 5 pm and 7 pm
• Sunday: 7 am, 8 am, 11 am, noon, 5 pm, 6 pm, 7 pm and 8 pm.

So, the doors to the church are normally open in the early morning and close after the last mass during the day and reopen for early evening mass.

The main altar in Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

The Beautiful Churches in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley

In the metropolitan Medellín metro area (Aburrá Valley), there are over 300 Roman Catholic churches. Most notably, there is a complete list of all the churches of the Archdiocese of Medellín.

We have looked at a total of 33 beautiful churches in the Medellín metro area and the Aburrá Valley in a series on this website. And 22 of the churches we have looked at in detail are in Medellín:

1. Catedral Basílica Metropolitana – the main church of the Archdiocese of Medellín and the largest church in the city.
2. Iglesia de La Candelaria – the oldest church in Medellín, which is also a National Monument of Colombia.
3. Iglesia San Antonio and Plaza San Antonio – the church with the largest dome in Medellín located next to Plaza San Antonio with four Fernando Botero sculptures.
4. Iglesia Jesús Nazareno – another of the most beautiful churches in Medellín.
5. Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro – a beautiful Gothic-style church in Medellín.
6. Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús – a neo-Gothic-style church located in Barrio Triste in Medellín.
7. Iglesia de San José – a Boroque-style church located in El Centro, Medellín.
8. Iglesia del Señor de las Misericordias – a neo-Gothic-style church located in the Manrique neighborhood of Medellín.
9. Iglesia San José – a Romanesque-style church located next to Parque Poblado in El Poblado.
10. Iglesia de la Veracruz – a colonial church with a history that goes back to 1682, which makes it one of the oldest churches in Medellín.
11. Iglesia de San Ignacio – a beautiful church in El Centro with a Baroque-style exterior and colonial interior.
12. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora – a Roman-style church located next to Parque Belén in Medellín.
13. Iglesia el Calvario – a Romanesque-style church in the Aranjuez comuna in Medellín.
14. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sufragio – a neo-Romanesque-style church in the Boston barrio in Medellín.
15. Iglesia de San Benito – a neo-Romanesque-style church with a history that traces back to 1678, which make it one of the oldest churches in Medellín.
16. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores – a Neo-Byzantine-style church in the La América comuna in Medellín.
17. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón – a beautiful Neo-Gothic-style church in the Buenos Aires comuna in Medellín.
18. Iglesia de Cristo Rey – a beautiful church in the Guayabal comuna of Medellín with many beautiful stained-glass windows.
19. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores – a beautiful Neoclassical-style church in the Robledo comuna of Medellín, which is also a National Monument of Colombia.
20. Iglesia del Cementerio San Pedro – a beautiful church built in 1929 that has some of the most beautiful stained-glass windows found in the churches in Medellín.
21. Iglesia de El Niño Jesús de Praga – a beautiful church in the Villa Hermosa comuna in Medellín.
22. Iglesia San Joaquín – a beautiful church in the Laureles-Estadio comuna in Medellín that is reportedly the second largest church in Medellín.

Also, we have looked at the principal church in each of the other nine municipalities in the Aburrá Valley:

1. Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis – a beautiful church in Envigado located next to Parque Envigado.
2. Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a church located in Bello that is arguably the most beautiful church in the Aburrá Valley
3. Iglesia de Santa Ana – a very popular church in Sabaneta located next to Parque Sabaneta.
4. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a historic church in Itagüí near Medellín with a history that traces back to 1743.
5. Nuestra Señora Chiquinquirá – a beautiful church in La Estrella with a Neo-Gothic-style.
6. Catedral Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes – a Neoclassical-style church with a history that traces back to 1793 and is located in the Caldas municipality south of Medellín.
7. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción – a Baroque-style church with a history that traces back to 1715 and is located in the Copacabana municipality north of Medellín.
8. Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a Neo-Romanesque-style church located in the Girardota municipality northeast of Medellín.
9. Iglesia de San Antonio de Padua – a Neo-Romanesque-style church located in the Barbosa municipality northeast of Medellín.

Also, we looked at two smaller colonial-style churches while looking in detail at two nearby larger churches:

1. Hato Viejo Chapel – a colonial-style church in Bello built between 1772 and 1796. It’s also a National Monument of Colombia. We looked at Hato Viejo Chapel while covering Nuestra Señora del Rosario.
2. Capilla de María Auxiliadora – a colonial-style church in Barbosa built between 1773 and 1776. We looked at Capilla de María Auxiliadora while covering Iglesia de San Antonio de Padua.

In addition, we looked at Las Lajas Sanctuary located in Ipiales, Colombia, which is considered the most beautiful church in Colombia. Also, it’s considered by many to be one of the most beautiful churches in the world.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

The Bottom Line: Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón is not found in any of the 10 English language Colombia travel guidebooks that I have. But it’s worth stopping to see this notable Roman Catholic church if you like old and historic churches. You could also stop to see this church before or after going to eat at Mercado Del Tranvía, since it’s located only about a block away.

Several of the most notable and beautiful churches in the Medellín area are located in El Centro in Medellín. But we have also been looking at notable and beautiful churches in other neighborhoods in Medellín like Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón in this article, which is located in the Buenos Aries neighborhood of Medellín, near El Centro.

Seems like, in my experience, that most of the travel guidebooks in English about Colombia are missing many of the best places in the cities and pueblos in Colombia.

Consequently, we have covered the beautiful churches in the Medellín metro area in a comprehensive series on this website. Most noteworthy, we did this since a majority of the beautiful and notable churches in the city are missing from the English-language travel guidebooks about Colombia.

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