Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro is a notable and historic Roman Catholic church located in Medellín, which is worth seeing – particularly if you like stained-glass windows. It’s a Gothic-style church with some beautiful stained-glass windows and other religious artwork.
This church is located near San Diego mall. And it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. When you travel on the Medellín metro from Poblado station towards El Centro, this Gothic-style church is very noticeable on the right side of the metro as you approach the Exposiciones metro station. The needle towers on this church really stand out compared to the surrounding buildings.
In addition, we included Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro in our list of the top 14 churches in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley.
History of Igelsia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro
In early 1944, Paulina Uribe de Mejía donated land in the barrio of Cólon to the Archdiocese of Medellín for the purposes of building a new church. The donor wished that the new church would be dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the invocation of “Our Lady of Perpetual Help.” And the donor wanted the church to be built in five years.
In April 1944, Monsignor Joaquin Garcia Benitez, Archbishop of Medellín at the time, ordered the construction of the church and an architect was found. And construction of the church began in 1945.
The terrain on which this church is built is known for its soft and marshy constitution due to proximity to the Medellín River. As a result, construction initially started with excavation and the design of deep reinforced concrete foundations to support the church.
The church was sufficiently completed in 1951. Finally, in that year it started to be used as a church. And the first pastor was Joseph J. Galeano.
The right side altar in the church was added in 1947 via a donation by Rosa Angel Escobar. And the left altar was added in 1953, thanks to a donation by Lucia Angel Escobar. Finally, the main altar was added in 1955 after another donation by Doña Julia Velásquez.
The church externally is composed of a major tower in the center of the building. And it has two towers in its facade that conserve, in between them, an image of the patron carved in marble with two bronze angels.
The three towers are made of brass and form high needles with the end of their tips with a subtle iron cross. The general structure of the church shows the monumentality of the Gothic-style construction.
Inside Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro
Inside the church you will find a beautiful interior that is yellow and white and it has wooden pews.
The main altar in the church is made of marble and it is decorated with mosaics. And it was made by the artist E. Bibolotti from Italy.
There are many additional pieces of religious artwork to be found throughout this church.
In addition, the church has many beautiful stained-glass windows.
Many other churches in the city have confessionals on both the right and left sides. However, Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro only has confessionals on the left side of the church.
How to Get to Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro
Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro is located in barrio Colón, which is part of the La Candelaria comuna (El Centro). Especially relevant, the church is located outside the chaos of downtown Medellín and it isn’t that far from El Poblado.
The church is conveniently located only about three blocks from the Exposiciones metro station on Line A of the Medellín metro. You can see the church from the metro on the right side coming from Poblado station going north before you get to the Exposiciones station. In addition, the church is located only about four blocks from the San Diego shopping mall.
Furthermore, many taxi drivers in Medellín will know where Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro is located. If not, just tell the driver “la iglesia cerca de la estación de metro Exposiciones.” And taxis are normally easy to catch at the nearby San Diego mall or at the Exposiciones metro station.
Website: http://www.perpetuosocorromedellin.org/views/inicio.php
Address: Calle 35 # 48-8, Barrio Cólon, Medellín
Phone: +57 4 232 0525
Email: secretaria@perpetuosocorromedellin.org
Hours: The church is mainly open in the mornings. And it seems the mass schedule for the church changes each day. So, the mass schedule is posted on the website of the church. This is one of the few churches in the city that has its own website.
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:
- Catedral Basílica Metropolitana – the main church of the Archdiocese of Medellín and the largest church in the city.
- Iglesia de La Candelaria – the oldest church in Medellín, which is also a National Monument of Colombia.
- 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.
- Iglesia Jesús Nazareno – another of the most beautiful churches in Medellín.
- Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro – a beautiful Gothic-style church in Medellín.
- Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús – a neo-Gothic-style church located in Barrio Triste in Medellín.
- Iglesia de San José – a Boroque-style church located in El Centro, Medellín.
- Iglesia del Señor de las Misericordias – a neo-Gothic-style church located in the Manrique neighborhood of Medellín.
- Iglesia San José – a Romanesque-style church located next to Parque Poblado in El Poblado.
- 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.
- Iglesia de San Ignacio – a beautiful church in El Centro with a Baroque-style exterior and colonial interior.
- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora – a Roman-style church located next to Parque Belén in Medellín.
- Iglesia el Calvario – a Romanesque-style church in the Aranjuez comuna in Medellín.
- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sufragio – a neo-Romanesque-style church in the Boston barrio in Medellín.
- 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.
- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores – a Neo-Byzantine-style church in the La América comuna in Medellín.
- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón – a beautiful Neo-Gothic-style church in the Buenos Aires comuna in Medellín.
- Iglesia de Cristo Rey – a beautiful church in the Guayabal comuna of Medellín with many beautiful stained-glass windows.
- 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.
- 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.
- Iglesia de El Niño Jesús de Praga – a beautiful church in the Villa Hermosa comuna in Medellín.
- 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:
- Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis – a beautiful church in Envigado located next to Parque Envigado.
- Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a church located in Bello that is arguably the most beautiful church in the Aburrá Valley
- Iglesia de Santa Ana – a very popular church in Sabaneta located next to Parque Sabaneta.
- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a historic church in Itagüí near Medellín with a history that traces back to 1743.
- Nuestra Señora Chiquinquirá – a beautiful church in La Estrella with a Neo-Gothic-style.
- 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.
- 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.
- Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Rosario – a Neo-Romanesque-style church located in the Girardota municipality northeast of Medellín.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
The Bottom Line: Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro
Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro isn’t found in any of the 10 English language Colombia travel guidebooks that I have. But it’s worth seeing this Gothic-style church with its beautiful stained-glass windows perhaps while on the way to do some shopping at San Diego mall. And it’s easy to get to since the church is only about three blocks from the Exposiciones metro station.
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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3 thoughts on “Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro: A Gothic-Style Church”
Thanks for writing about the beautiful churches in our city with some great photos. Your website is fantastic and so helpful.
Nice post. I have seen this church countless times while on the metro and always wondered what it looked like inside.
Thanks Paula, we plan to cover several more of the beautiful churches in Medellín.