I have a fondness for old churches. One of the prettiest churches that I’ve recently seen in Buenos Aires is Templo de Santa Lucía in Barracas at Av Montes de Oca 850. From the exterior the church doesn’t seem that large or impressive since it’s now nestled between two more modern buildings, so we were quite surprised when we saw the magnificent interior. Like a lot of old churches, parts of the inside wall are flaking. Oddly, though, some of the flaking is coming not from plaster but from beige paint. Looking beneath the flakes we saw that the wall was actually marble. Not sure who had the bright idea of painting over marble but it didn’t work very well. Fortunately, in other parts of the interior the marble is exposed.

Several wonderful glass coverd domes, I think there are three of them, extend along the nave of the church. Each of the domes are surrounded by intricately drawn paintings.

I’ve heard that Santa Lucia is the patron saint of Barracas and a chapel has been on this site since 1783. The current church was constructed in 1887. Supposedly, on every December 13, the feast day of Santa Lucia, there is a procession down Montes de Oca. That’s coming up in a few weeks, so I’m going to try and remember to go down there then.