Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario, a Beautiful Church in Bello

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The facade of Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Bello
The facade of Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Bello

Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario is another of the notable and historic Roman Catholic churches located in the Medellín metro area.

The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the advocation of the Rosary. The architecture of Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario has some neo-Byzantine influences.

The church is located in Bello, which is the most northern municipality in the valley.

The church is impressive and it has perhaps the most beautiful interior out of all the churches in Medellín we have looked at so far. The church is also considered a museum of religious art.

In addition to decorated facade, columns, walls and arches, it has a range of art work such as murals, stained glass, carvings, sculptures, reliefs and liturgical objects.

Note that there are additional churches named Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario in the metro area so you are not confused, including one in La Estrella and one in Itagüí.

The central nave inside Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario
The central nave inside Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario

History of the Church

In the late nineteenth century, the membership of the Catholic church in Bello went to the Bishop of Medellín at the time, Bernardo Herrera Restrepo, informing him of the threat of ruin to the old Hato Veijo Chapel, recommending that it be replaced.

The Bishop welcomed the request and authorized the building of a new church with the site chosen at the main park in Bello, diagonal to Hato Veijo Chapel.

The new church was designed by Italian Architect Albano Germanetti. Construction started in 1936 and the church opened on October 10, 1947. Since opening, the church has operated as a Roman Catholic church.

Inside Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario showing some of the artwork
Inside Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario showing some of the artwork

Inside the Church

The interior of Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario is white with gold trim. The church is very beautiful inside and impressive with a tremendous number of artwork pieces and many stained glass windows.

One of several murals on the ceiling of the church
One of several murals on the ceiling of the church

The church has several large murals on the ceiling, which I haven’t seen in other churches in the city.

The main altar inside the church during mass
The main altar inside the church during mass

The main altar in the church is also impressive and the church has confessionals found along the right and left aisles.

Parque Bello

Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario is located in Bello on Calle 30 next to Parque Bello.

Parque Bello
Parque Bello

Parque Bello is the main park in Bello. There are several trees in the park providing shade to relax.

The park has two churches on either side of the park and many restaurants and small shops are located around the park and on nearby streets. There are also some nearby bars and casinos.

National Monument to Marco Fidel Suárez
National Monument to Marco Fidel Suárez

Also near to the park a couple blocks away is the National Monument to Marco Fidel Suárez, who was someone famous from Bello with humble origins.

Suárez was president of Colombia from 1918 to 1921. The monument protects a small hut, where the former president was born.

How to Get There

The easiest way to get to Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario is to take the Medellín metro north to the Bello station and the church is located about a 10-minute walk north from the metro station.

There are also frequent buses that run from the Bello metro station to Parque Bello, where the church is located. Cost is only about 1,200 pesos.

Or you can ask any taxi driver in Medellín to take you to “Parque Bello,” just about every taxi driver will know where it is.

It is relatively safe to walk from the metro station to Parque Bello as there are many people on the streets during the day or you can take the short bus ride.

There has reportedly been some violence in the park at night, so it is not recommended to go there after dark.

The doors to Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario aren’t open all the time and I didn’t see a mass schedule posted so it is recommended to call the church to make sure it is open to see the beautiful interior.

Hato Viejo Chapel
Hato Viejo Chapel

Hato Viejo Chapel

Hato Viejo (Old Herd) Chapel still exists and is located on the other side of Parque Bello from Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario. Hato Viejo Chapel is a much older colonial church that was built between 1772 and 1796.

Hato Viejo Chapel was repaired while Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario was built but after Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario opened in 1947, Hato Viejo Chapel was closed.

When closed, Hato Viejo Chapel began to deteriorate and became so forgotten it was used as a tile factory for a while, despite being declared a national monument in 1960.

After that time the chapel continued to deteriorate and be forgotten with the larger Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario on the other side of the park.

But in 2005, since the building was a national monument, a restoration project of Hato Viejo Chapel started with an investment totaling 1,959 million pesos.

The National Government in Colombia, the Antioquia Government and the Municipality of Bello all contributed to the restoration.

Hato Viejo Chapel reopened in 2010 and it is still used today but is open much less often than the larger Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario.

One of the stained glass windows in Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario
One of the stained glass windows in Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Rosario

Note to Readers

This is the tenth notable church in Medellín we have looked at in a series on this website looking at the most notable churches in the city.

We previously looked at nine churches:

  1. Iglesia de la Veracruz,
  2. Iglesia Jesús Nazareno,
  3. Catedral Basílica Metropolitana,
  4. Iglesia de La Candelaria,
  5. Iglesia San Jose,
  6. Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús,
  7. Iglesia San Antonio,
  8. Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro,
  9. Iglesia de San Ignacio

The first nine churches we have looked at in Medellín have all been in La Candelaria (El Centro) and all could be seen in a few hours time.  Most of the churches in El Centro are located within one to seven blocks of a metro station.

It would be possible to combine a tour of several of the notable churches in La Candelaria (El Centro) along with visits to Museo de Antioquia and Plaza Botero.

The majority of the notable churches in Medellín are located in El Centro but we now turn our focus in this church series to look at some of the most notable churches in other neighborhoods in the city.

We are covering the churches in Medellín in a series on this website as we have found that most of the beautiful churches in the city are unfortunately missing from the travel guidebooks of Colombia.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Thanks for taking great photos of this notable church in Bello and the nearby area. I need to go see this church that looks like it has a very impressive and very beautiful interior.