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Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral view at dusk , from " Plaza de Mayo " square . During the definitive foundation of Buenos Aires by Juan de Garay in 1580 , part of a block facing the main square was reserved for the major church of the town . This is still the location of the current Cathedral , which is the last building in a series of previous churches that occupied the site . Interior of the Cathedral viewed towards the main chapel . Both the main altarpiece and the pulpits date from the late 18th century . At the time of its foundation , the town depended on the diocese of Asunción ( in today Paraguay ) . The first main church of Buenos Aires was a modest building made of wood and adobe , and was replaced by a new one in 1605 by Governor Hernandarias . This second building was also in danger of collapse by 1616 and had to be rebuilt again , something which was done around 1618 . In 1620 , Buenos Aires was made seat of a bishopric by Pope Paul V . Its main church now had the status of a cathedral . After 1662 , the cathedral was again rebuilt under bishop Cristóbal de la Mancha y Velazco and governor José Martínez de Salazar , being reinaugurated in 1671 . The cathedral now had three naves covered by a wooden roof and a tower . Due to the bad quality of its building materials , the tower and the roof of this church fell down in the early 1680s . The whole church was again rebuilt , starting in 1684 , under bishop Azcona Imberto . In 1695 the building was almost finished , with the flanking towers of the façade and the sacristy still to be completed . In the early 1700s the works were slow , and the first tower was finished only around 1721 . The second tower was begun in 1722 and finished around 1725 . The main façade was redesigned between 1725 and 1727 by the Italian Jesuit Giovanni Bianchi ( also spelled Blanqui ) . The design of the new façade was directly inspired by Italian Mannerist architecture . ? |
