Church of San Francisco de Asís
A hidden treasure
It is dated 1690, when the first Marquis of Tojo ordered its construction to honor his deceased young wife.
Being able to visit it is quite a challenge. The keys, the same ones that have been opening its heavy green doors for more than three hundred years, are in the possession of a chief caretaker who works for the National Museums Commission, the authority in charge of Argentina's cultural heritage. It happens that finding her to open the temple to travelers is often an impossible adventure.
Luckily, thanks to the great willingness of Silvia and Gustavo, the owners of Posada Tika, we were able to visit the church. They contacted Yaquelin Bulegio, the wife of the cacique of the Coya de Yavi Community, and we were able to enter the sacred historical site. She not only accompanied us but also told us the history of this relic.
It has three altarpieces, a pulpit and a choir. Everything is exceptional: the wood carvings, the gold covering, the Cuzco canvases, the decoration, the layout of the nave.
At the top, hang four paintings of the Cuzco school of art, contemporary to the construction of the church. They have never been restored, so an intense darkness prevails, making it difficult to glimpse the scenes of the crucifixion of Christ depicted there, especially since they are on top of the thick adobe walls, backlit by the small windows of alabaster and onyx that illuminate the enclosure.
In the choir, above the entrance, a very ancient chandelier in the shape of a condor stands out.
The angels that ornament the beams -of an intense green color- and that support its structure are impressive. They were made by indigenous artists from Cuzco, who left their mark by adding feathers to the cherubs.
In the main atrium, the Virgen del Rosario, patron saint of Yavi, stands out, together with San Francisco, who occupies the place to her right. A canvas with a scene of the Virgin of La Merced, of evident Cuzco manufacture, stands out on the left wall near the main altarpiece, especially for the details of the Immaculate Virgin's dress.
When Yaquelin opened the sacristy, a beam of light entered through the hidden alabaster window inside, creating an extraordinary scene.
To the left of the temple, there is a small chapel with a huge altarpiece also covered in gold. It is the Chapel of the Souls. It is heartbreaking to read the tombstones of the centuries-old graves of children and loved ones.
At the end of the visit, Yaquelin told us her story. At twenty-three years old, she proudly confessed that she loves her town so much that she can't imagine living anywhere else. She also reminded us of the stories of her ancestors, told by her grandfather, from the time of the last marquis.
As we left, Sunday around ten o'clock in the morning, several children from the community were waiting for their catechism hour right in the garden where lilies, daisies, dahlias and gladiolas are planted, to make offerings to the town's patron saints. And when ten o'clock struck, Yaquelin climbed the bell tower to ring the bells, which resounded throughout the silent village and beyond, into the enormity of the vast and desolate expanse of the puna.
