Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Work on this cathedral started around 1535, and during the long construction the nearby church of San Juan de Dios stood in as the temporary cathedral until the diocesan seat moved to the present building in 1640. Earthquakes struck again and again through the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, each time compelling another rebuilding. The structure seen today took shape in a campaign that ran from 1702 to 1733 and was consecrated on 12 July 1733. When the 1931 earthquake brought down the towers, they too were rebuilt. Within the church a Baroque pipe organ survives, made locally with parts from 1711 and 1712 and restored in 1997.