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buenos aires metropolitan cathedral facade view at dusk with people , from " plaza de mayo " square , during spring of 2007 . about the cathedral : it s placed in av . roque saenz peña and mayo square intersection . 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 inspire ? |
