The Amazing Votive Temple of Maipú in Chile

The Votive Temple of Maipú or Basilica of Our Lady of Carmen is a Catholic church ordered to be built by Captain General and Supreme Director Bernardo O'Higgins , to acknowledge that and to fulfill the mandates that made the Virgen del Carmen , because victory the Army of Chile by the Army of the Andes in the plains of Maipu , which ensured the independence of Chile.
Votive was called because of the votes that made O'Higgins to the Virgin. After its construction decreed May 7 of 1818 , one on 15 November the same year was placed and blessed the first stone of the Chapel of Victory or Votive Church of Maipu. The Canon Madariaga Sunday Errázuriz was the first superintendent of the building until his death in 1819 . In April 1892, one after sixty-four years of intermittent construction due to lack of resources, the old church was solemnly opened. But in 1906 , a violent earthquake and then a tremor necessitated rebuilding the temple. On December 8 of 1942 , the Marian Congress held in Santiago, took sole agreement of this meeting to build a great shrine in Maipu, on the grounds of the former Chapel of the Victoria to honor the Virgen del Carmen.

Thus, the July 16 of 1948 the Archbishop of Santiago , and later Cardinal , Monsignor José María Caro sent begin construction of the new sanctuary. The winning design was the Chilean Juan Martinez Gutiérrez . During the long years of the construction of the current temple, Catholic groups, like young church or clandestine, opposed to the construction of that work, because it was rated a luxury, and proposed giving the money invested in that building for most people poor, both the archdiocese and the rest of the country. This group was led by Leonardo Jeffs gave anonymous and various media interviews.

The work delayed due to lack of resources but finally the 24 October of 1974 , and thanks to Vote O'Higgins National Foundation (which depends on the shrine today), solemnly inaugurated the Votive Temple of Maipú Carmen street, right where it intersects with the April 5th Avenue , next to the avenue Camino Rinconada .