The Church of San Antonio de Padua launches cultural tour through QR

 

The presentation ceremony took place this Friday, June 9, inside the temple itself – which already has 209 years of history – with the presence of the acting mayor of Mogán, Onalia Bueno, the acting councilor for Historical Heritage, Consuelo Díaz, the parish priest Juan Antonio Artiles and members of CUPACAN. Among these, its president, Antonio Francisco Santana, and Aurelio Torres, historian and ecclesiastical specialist in charge of researching and writing the content that makes up the cultural walk. 

 

A mobile device with Internet is enough to scan the QR codes found next to the two main entrances to the church. Through these you can access twelve information blocks with audiovisual content that offer a guided historical and artistic overview of the building, being available in Spanish, English and German. In addition, you can enjoy the ride by reading the content or listening to its narration.

 

In this way we can know that the Church of San Antonio de Padua began to be built in 1809 and was completed on May 14, 1814, giving way to the creation of the parish of Mogán and the emancipation of the town from Tejeda, a municipality to which belonged until then. And this, in turn, allowed the creation of the City Council, showing that the building is the origin of the municipality. 

 

Also that its construction was possible thanks to the generous financial contribution of the Indian Matías Sarmiento, a native of Mogán and a rich landowner in Havana, Cuba, with the original design of the building by the Gran Canarian artist José Luján Pérez. But also, that the image of the patron saint of the municipality, San Antonio de Padua or 'El Chico', as he is popularly known in the place, was also carved by Luján Pérez and also dates from 1814.

 

 

These are just some of the information that people who visit the church have at their disposal. It is also noteworthy that the image of the Immaculate Conception of Mary arrived in Mogán in 1838 from the disappeared Franciscan convent that existed

in Gáldar, that the baptismal font carved in stone is still the one that was placed when the parish was founded, or that next to the main door there are some portraits from 1802 of the promoters of the church, the couple formed by Matías Sarmiento and Micaela Coto. The surnames of both give their name to the square in the historic center, Sarmiento y Coto, where the church itself, the Town Hall, the kiosk and the El Mocán Cultural Center are located. 

 

“We have believed it necessary and very important to give this church the value it deserves, offering the opportunity to those people who visit it to learn about its history, its details. Because by knowing and learning about it we will know how to value it as a building, but also as the link of union and communion that has always been between neighbors,” said Consuelo Díaz, acting councilor of the town. 

 

“As a neighbor who lives just a few blocks from the church, I recognize that this is a special day because I feel that we are giving something back to this building that has given us so much, and that continues to do so. And not only from the historical point of view, but also from the sentimental point of view," he continued, pointing out that the people of Mogan and Mogan have grown up around it "sharing moments in and around it that we will not forget and that we carry with us always, forming part of who we are."

 

The Church of San Antonio de Padua can be visited in the morning. It is also available at its usual mass times on Thursdays and Saturdays at 19:30 p.m. 

 

 

 

 

 

Music to open the weekend

 

In addition to the presentation of the cultural walk, within the framework of the Patron Saint Festivities of San Antonio El Chico, the Hifi Escala Gala was held this Friday at the El Mocán Cultural Center as well as the tribute concert to El Último de la Fila at the San José street, ending the evening with a festival by Star Music and Furia Joven.

 

Program of events available at www.mogan.es.