Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis is a notable and historic Roman Catholic church located in Envigado, which is worth seeing. The church is best known for its impressive and beautiful main alter.
This Greek-Roman style church is located in Envigado, which is directly south of El Pobaldo. The church is located next to Parque Envigado, which is one of the most popular parks in the Medellín metro area.
Also, this church is a hidden gem that isn’t visited by many tourists, as it isn’t in any of 10 English language Colombia travel guidebooks that I have. Note the above photo is the main nave in Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis.
In addition, we included Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis in our list of the top 14 churches in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley.
History of Igelsia de Santa Gertrudis
Reportedly on September 25, 1859, more than 80 churchgoers in Envigado went to Father Julian Maria Upegui wanting him to ask the Bishop of Medellín at the time for permission to build a new church in Envigado to support a growing congregation.
The small church in the area was already outgrown and unable to support the increasing population in Envigado. Permission for building a new church was granted. And construction of the new church started in late 1859. But the project was quickly halted in 1860, due to a civil war in Colombia.
Simón de J. Herrera, in charge of the parish, finally addressed Valerio Antonio Jiménez on October 20, 1864 who was the Bishop of Medellín. He asked for permission to continue with the church construction. Permission was granted due to plans to tear down the small church in Envigado that wasn’t large enough.
So, construction resumed and Igelsia de Santa Gertrudis officially opened in February 1897. The church has operated continuously as a Roman Catholic church since it opened.
In 2001, a major restoration project of Igelsia de Santa Gertrudis began, which ended in 2006.
Inside Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis
Inside the church you will find a beautiful interior that is green and white with some gold trim. Also, the main alter in the church is very impressive, which is in the photo above.
There are many pieces of religious artwork to be found throughout this church.
In addition, the church has many stained-glass windows.
Similar to many other churches in the city, Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis has confessionals that are found along the right and left aisles in the church.
Furthermore, the church has an organ on the second floor. This organ was reportedly built at the Xuclá Factory in Barcelona (Spain) and was originally installed in 1909.
Location of Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis
Parque Envigado
Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis is located next to Parque Envigado in Envigado. Parque Envigado is popular with the church on one side and bars, restaurants and small shops of all kinds surrounding the park.
Parque Envigado is considered by locals to be a convenient place in Envigado to meet up with friends. In addition, Parque Envigado is also considered to be the epicenter of public events in Envigado. Outdoor concerts are sometimes held there.
Also, there is a Christmas light display in Parque Envigado each year and sometimes the church is decorated.
How to Get to Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis
Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis is located next to Parque Envigado. An easy way to get there is to take the Medellín metro Line A to the Envigado station. And Parque Envigado is located about a 10-minute walk east from this metro station. There are many people walking on the streets to/from the metro station. So, it’s relatively safe during the day.
In addition, there are frequent and inexpensive metro buses that run from the Envigado metro station to and from Parque Envigado.
Furthermore, any taxi driver in Medellín will know where Parque Envigado is located. It’s also relatively easy to catch a taxi at Parque Envigado.
Address: Carrera 42 # 37 Sur 20, Envigado
Phone: +57 4 331 2393
Email: santagertrudis@arqmedellin.co
Hours: 8:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday to Sunday
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 de Santa Gertrudis and Parque Envigado
Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis isn’t found in any of the 10 English language Colombia travel guidebooks that I have. But it’s worth seeing this church as well as Parque Envigado.
Unfortunately, in my experience, most 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.
You could possibly combine seeing Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis and Parque Envigado while going for lunch or dinner at nearby Contenedores Food Place in Envigado in Envigado.
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3 thoughts on “Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis: A Beautiful Church in Envigado”
Do you know if any of these Catholic churches in Medellin have mass in English?
Hi James, I asked at a couple of the churches and nobody knew of mass in English in any of the churches.
Thanks for another nice church article with great photos. It´s interesting to me to find out the history of these beautiful churches in the Medellin area. Thanks for covering them!