The facade of Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis in Envigado (Photo by Jenny Pee, Wikimedia)
Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis is another of the notable and historic Roman Catholic churches in the Medellín metro area.
The Greco-Roman church is situated in Envigado, just south of El Poblado.
The church is next to Parque Envigado, a popular park in the Medellín metro area.
In September 1859, churchgoers in the Envigado area went to Father Julian Maria Upegui asking to intervene with the Bishop to get permission to build a new church.
The existing church at the time was quite small and unable to accommodate the increased population located nearby.
Permission was granted, and construction of the church in Envigado started in late 1859. But work was suspended for a while because of the civil war in Colombia in 1860.
In November 1864, construction resumed, and the church opened in February 1897. Since opening, the church has operated as a Roman Catholic church.
The interior of Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis is green and white with gold trim. The church is beautiful inside with many artwork pieces and stained glass windows.
The church has confessionals found along the right and left aisles. The church also has an organ on the second floor, which was installed in 1909.
The organ is reportedly considered one of the best organs in the country. The organ was built at the Xuciá factory in Barcelona, Spain.
Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis is located in Envigado on Carrera 42 next to Parque Envigado.
Many visitors’ first stop in Envigado is Parque Envigado, a one square block plaza featuring the Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis on one side, and bars and restaurants around all the rest.
The park is a convenient place to meet up with friends and is also the epicenter of public events in the city, including outdoor concerts and a Christmas light display each year.
In the area around the park are many restaurants and shops of all kinds.
Unfortunately, there is now construction happening at Parque Envigado, with barricades around the park. But it looks as though they’re nearing completion.
At the moment, you will be able to walk around the park, but not enter it, until the construction in completed.
The easiest way to get to Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis is to take the Medellín metro to the Envigado station. The church is located a 10-minute walk east from the metro station.
There are also frequent inexpensive buses that run from the Envigado metro station to Parque Envigado.
Or you can ask any taxi driver in Medellín to take you to “Parque Envigado,” every driver will know it.
It is relatively safe to walk from the metro station to Parque Envigado as there are many people on the streets during the day, or you can take the short bus ride.
The doors to Iglesia de Santa Gertrudis are open most of the time during the day. It has been open each time I have gone to Parque Envigado during the day.
This is the twelfth 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 eleven churches:
The first nine churches we have looked at in Medellín have all been located 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 have now turned our focus to other neighborhoods and cities in the valley.
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.
We plan to look at a few more churches in this series, which will be the last ones we write about in detail.
If readers have any suggestions about notable churches in the Medellín metro area we haven’t looked at yet, please let us know.
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View Comments
Thanks for another interesting church article with great photos.
I suggest that another historical church you should look at is Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de los Dolores in Robledo, which I understand was declared a national monument in Colombia.
Hi Kate, thanks for the suggestion and we plan to look at Nuestra Senora de los Dolores in Robledo in our church series.
Do you know of any churches that have Masses in English?
Hi Ed,
I'm not aware of any and I have asked at a couple of the churches about this and nobody I talked to has known of any church offering Masses in English.