2023-05-21 16:05:40
At the beginning of the 80s, the chapel in the center of Cipolletti was our covered patio on rainy days. The students of the Nuestra Señora de Fátima Institute took refuge there during the winter mornings when we had gym classes. Also there was the old brown piano for music lessons. And school events, of course. In those years, “el Fátima” was not what it is today and neither was the chapel on the corner.
Everyone has their memories of things and places and these are mine, standing there, being a palm tree in some kindergarten act, or dressed as a gaucho in another school act. Box jumping that he sought to avoid by all means and the day we all got together to learn regarding the novelty of the moment: a Commodore 64.
The chapel had functioned as a school space since the early 1960s, first as a kindergarten room and then for music, gymnastics and events until 1986, when renovations began to return it to its strictly liturgical functions.
The history of the chapel begins much earlier, with the arrival of Father José María Brentana, in 1914, to the town that was still called Colonia Lucinda and that at that time had no more than 700 inhabitants. The first place for Catholic worship was a small room located on the current Villegas street, next to the Fernández bookstore, as indicated by the research work carried out by the professor, Master and Doctor in Regional and Local History, Liliana Graciela. fedeli.
Soon, a pro-temple commission organized and chaired by Doña González Larrosa de Fernández Oro got to work to raise funds for the construction of a church for the town. They organized theatrical evenings with works such as “The abandoned house” and “Capricho de mujer”, among others. There were also dances in the Spanish Association and in the Central Hotel. Another remembered activity was the raffle on July 9, 1926 at the Hotel Argentino, whose first prize was a Ford automobile; the second, a Whit truck; and the third, tools for fruit growing.
As indicated by the researcher in her valuable work, the original place for the chapel was not the current one, but one located on the corner of the current Villegas and Miguel Muñoz streets. As it was too small they decided to sell it to raise funds and find a new place. Mr. José de Laza donated the block where the chapel would finally be built, in what would later be the corner of Yrigoyen and Sarmiento.
The work was carried out by Jacinto del Ben with plans from engineer Bence, who supervised the work from Buenos Aires. He also collaborated by sending a crew of workers to build the vault and the back of the choir from a small raised stoneware.
Father Brentana frequented the work and visited the workers, who decided to donate the labor for the inlaid and detailed bas-relief cross on the choir wall. It is that the budget was not enough for such a work, but the workers, in gratitude for the treatment given by Father Brentana and his kindness, decided to do the work in his honor.
The first marriage with a betrothal mass performed by Father Brentana in the brand new chapel was that of Antonio Turrín and María Manara, on June 28, 1931, as recorded in the book of marriage records in the parish archive.
In 1961, the chapel began to be used as a school space by the Instituto Nuestra Señora de Fátima and was only occasionally used for liturgical purposes since the large church was not yet finished. In 1980, at the initiative of Monsignor Elorrieta, the municipality collaborated in the partial restoration of the zinc roofs and external walls of the chapel and its tower, the exterior lighting and the niche on its front for the image of the missionary virgin of Río Negro .
In 1986 the chapel ceased to be used by the school for new interior repairs in order to be used once more for religious worship. In 1987, between June and September, soldiers from the Neuquén Mountain Infantry Brigade carried out painting tasks and installation of heating. On Holy Thursday 1989, the priest’s carpet was laid and the new internal lighting of the chapel was inaugurated, which once once more hosts daily masses, baptisms, weddings and funerals.
In 1998, it was temporarily closed once more for repairs to its architecture and painting. From then until today the chapel has daily activity. Of all the old chapels in the Alto Valle, none remained standing, except that of the Sagrada Familia, declared a Historic Monument.
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