Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús: A Gothic Church in Barrio Triste

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Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Wikimedia by Kamilokardona)
Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Wikimedia by Kamilokardona)

Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) is another notable and historic Roman Catholic church in Medellín.

This is the sixth church we have looked at in our series of the beautiful and notable churches in Medellín.

The sizeable church is located in Barrio Sagrado Corazón, which is in La Candelaria (El Cento).

Barrio Sagrado Corazón is popularly known as Barrio Triste (Sad neighborhood) for a number of reasons detailed below.

The front facade of Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
The front facade of Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús

History of the Church

The Gothic style church was built in the Sagrado Corazón neighborhood as there was a desire to start to develop a residential presence in the area that had been dominated by trade shops and a number of neighborhood restaurants and bars.

Construction of the large brick church started in November 1923 with a design by Belgian architect, Agustin Goovaerts.

The church was completed from in 1941 under the direction of Pepe (Jesús) Mejía, from the Belgian architecture firm Félix Mejía y Cia starting in 1928 as Goovaerts had returned home.

Unfortunately the goal of developing a residential neighborhood near the church never materialized, as the district today remains an area full of auto repair shops and other industrial shops as well as a number of local shops, restaurants, and bars.

This notable church was declared a National Monument of Colombia on August 31, 1998.

The Central Nave inside Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús
The Central Nave inside Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús

Inside the Church

The interior of Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús is white and yellow with some gold trim, and many beautiful pieces of art can also be found in the church.

The church has confessionals found along the right and left aisles. The church also has a number of stained glass windows.

Inside the church
Inside the church

How to Get There

Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús is located on Carrera 57A, which is conveniently located two blocks from the Cisneros metro station on Line B.

The two-block walk from the metro station to the church is predominately an industrial area with several auto repair and auto part stores.

Be careful as the area around the Cisneros metro station is considered to be dangerous at night. But during the day with many people about it is relatively safe for the short walk.

Or you can ask any taxi driver in Medellín to take you to “Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús – cerca Estación Cisneros,” just about every taxi driver will know it.

The church is typically open in the mornings until about 2:30 p.m. The church used to have a 6 p.m. mass, but it’d only receive a handful of attendees, so it was canceled.

Inside the church
Inside the church

Barrio Triste

Barrio Sagrado Corazón in Medellín where the church is located is popularly known as Barrio Triste (Sad neighborhood).

The neighborhood got its popular name reportedly from a French man with the name of Tristan that was one of the first to open a mechanics workshop in the neighborhood.

Colombians had difficulty pronouncing “Tristan,” so Triste started to be used for the area.

Barrio Triste also became known through a film by Colombian director Victor Gaviria released in 1998, “La Vendedora de Rosas,” which received a Golden Palm nomination at the Cannes Film Festival.

The film is a about a 13-year old girl who lives in glue-sniffing squalor in the streets of Medellín. Abandoned and hardened beyond her years, she scrapes together money to feed her habit by selling roses in bars.

Today the neighborhood hasn’t changed much from the time of the film. During the day, it is a lively commercial area full of car repair and industrial shops. In fact, the area is known for having some of the best mechanics in the city.

But at night, the area becomes dangerous with drug sales and a number of homeless people, so it is not recommended to go there after dark.

Statue up high in the front of the church
Statue up high in the front of the church

Note to Readers

This is the sixth notable church in Medellín we have looked at in a new series looking at the most famous churches in the city.

We previously looked at:

  1. Iglesia de la Veracruz,
  2. Iglesia Jesús Nazareno,
  3. Catedral Basílica Metropolitana,
  4. Iglesia de La Candelaria
  5. Iglesia San Jose

The first six churches we have looked at in Medellín have all been in El Centro, and all could be seen in a few hours time. It would be possible to combine a tour of some of the notable churches in 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. We discovered two more notable churches we plan to look at in El Centro, Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro and Iglesia San Antonio.

We also plan to look at several additional notable and historic churches in Medellín, which are located in other neighborhoods in the city.

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

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