Iglesia de San José: A Beautiful Church in El Centro

Iglesia de San José is a notable and historic Roman Catholic church located in Medellín, which is worth seeing. This Baroque-style Catholic church has many pieces of notable religious artwork.

Iglesia de San José is located in El Centro. And it could be seen while visiting other tourist sites in the area such as Museo de Antioquia and Plaza Botero.

In addition, several other notable churches are located in El Centro and are within walking distance of Iglesia de San José including, Catedral Basílica Metropolitana, Iglesia de La Candelaria and Iglesia San Antonio.

Note that there are two other historic churches with the same name in the Medellín area – Iglesia de San José. One is located next to Parque Poblado in El Poblado and the other is located in Envigado. The San José church this article covers is located in El Centro in Medellín.

The main altar in Iglesia de San José

History of Iglesia de San José

In the past, near where Iglesia de San José is located today, there was a church dedicated to San Lorenzo, which opened in 1720. This San Lorenzo chapel became rundown and in 1847 the bishop of Antioquia at the time, Juan de la Cruz Gómez Plata, ordered the church demolished along with another chapel nearby, which was named San Francisco.

In addition, the bishop ordered a new church to be built in honor of San José, which was to be entrusted to the Jesuits. Construction started after the demolition of the other two churches was completed. And the plans were to use the altars, furniture and religious artwork from the demolished churches in the new church.

However, on May 18, 1850, General José Hilario López expelled all Jesuits from Colombia. As a result, only the walls and ceiling of the new church were completed by the Jesuits. Additional work on the church was accomplished after the Jesuits left with work overseen by a board of construction and the pastors of Iglesia de La Candelaria.

The first mass in the new church was held in the church on July 15, 1872 according to a plaque in the church. But this was before the church was completed. In 1884, the first Jesuits returned to Medellín from Ecuador. Finally, the work on the church was completed in 1892. And in 1902, Jesuit architect Felix Pereira reconstructed the façade of the church.

The main nave in Iglesia de San José

Inside Iglesia de San José

Inside the church you will find a beautiful interior that is white with brown and gold trim. And it has wooden pews.

Religious artwork in the church

Religious artwork in Iglesia de San José

Another of the religious artwork pieces in the church

Another example of religious artwork in the church

One of several paintings in the church

There are many pieces of religious artwork to be found throughout this church including some notable pieces. In addition, the church also has some stained-glass windows higher up in the church.

Confessionals in Iglesia de San José

Like many other churches in the city, Iglesia de San José has confessionals on both the right and left sides.

Organ on the second floor in the church

In addition, the church has an organ located on the second floor.

Inside this church you will also find the painting called the baptism of Christ by Francisco Antonio Cano. Also, Cano created the gilded altarpiece in the church named Baptism of Jesus.

Cano is the Colombian artist who painted Horizons, which can be found in Museo de Antioquia, which depicts the early colonization of Antioquia. Horizons (Horizontes) is considered Cano’s masterpiece.

The auxiliary chapel in the church

Tram at San José station next to Igelesia de San José

How to Get to Iglesia de San José

Iglesia de San José is conveniently located right next to the San José metro station on the Ayacucho tram line – line T-A of the Medellín metro system. This tram line opened in late 2015 and runs east from the San Antonio metro station. And the San José station is the first station from the San Antonio station.

The church is also located about six blocks from either the Parque Barrío or San Antonio metro stations on Line A of the Medellín metro.

In addition, many taxi drivers in Medellín will know where Iglesia de San José is located. If not, just tell the driver “Iglesia de San José en El Centro – Avenida Oriental con Ayacucho.”

Address: Carrera 46 # 49-90, El Centro, Medellín

Phone: +57 4 251 8838

Email: sanjosecentro@arqmedellin.co

Hours: The doors to this church have been open during the day each time I have walked past, even when there is no mass. However, we recommend calling before going to make sure it is open.

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.

The front of the left side in Iglesia de San José

Iglesia de San José, photo by SajoR and taken in 2006 before the tram line was installed

The Bottom Line: Iglesia de San José

Iglesia de San José in El Centro is found in only one of the 10 English language Colombia travel guidebooks that I have. But it’s worth stopping to see this historic church. And it’s easy to get to since the church located next to the San José metro station on the T-A tram line.

You could potentially stop to see this church after taking the La Sierra Tour, which goes on the T-A tram line.

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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