St Ann's Church, Aruba

St Ann's Church
St Ann's Church
	Roman Catholic
History
Former name(s)	Chapel of Alto Vista
Architecture
Groundbreaking	1914
Completed	1919

St Ann's Church is a

Roman Catholic Church located along the northern portion of Aruba island within the Catholic Diocese of Willemstad

. Although rebuilt several times, the church traces its history back to 1776. It temporarily closed for repairs due to damage in 2011 and has since reopened.

Description

The original church on this site was begun in 1776 after the Chapel of Alto Vista fell into disuse and dedicated to

Virgin Mary. When it was constructed in 1776, Santa Ana Church represented the island's second most important religious meeting place (the first being Alto Vista Chapel

).

The church was rebuilt two times, once in 1831 and again in 1886. The Church was constructed between 1914 and 1919.

The carved oak retable in the Saint Ann is a fine example of

communion rail and pulpit

to the Netherlands Antilles mission which sent it to Saint Ann.

It is noted that the retable, the communion rail and pulpit won a prize at the first Vatican Council held in Rome in 1870. A final renovation to this historical site was accomplished in 1916 (somewhere between 1919 and 1919).

The most recent renovation took place in 2002.

Damage

On 25 August 2011, a severe downdraft caused damage to Saint Ann's roof and other areas.^[1]^[2] The altar, the communion rail and pulpit and remained unharmed although the roof was ripped open by the strong winds.

St. Ann's continued to offer mass under a tent in their parking lot until the roof was replaced.

References

^ "Downdraft causes millions in damages to Noord area". Aruba Daily. 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2012. Yesterday morning, a downdraft caused great damage in many areas in Noord where roofs flew from houses and trees fell. The St. Anna Church was badly damaged and many of the elementary schools were hit and kept the doors closed. The authorities reported no injuries and have so far only assisted scattered traumatized people.
^ "Over fifty homes damaged during early morning tornado in Aruba". St. Maarten - St. Martin News. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2012. One young boy experienced shock after witnessing the event that removed the roof at the school where he was located. Although there have been injuries no fatalities were reported. Among the structures that were damaged is that of the Santa Anna Catholic church.

External links

Photo Gallery of Damage

[aruba_daily_20120618-1] "Downdraft causes millions in damages to Noord area". Aruba Daily. 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2012. Yesterday morning, a downdraft caused great damage in many areas in Noord where roofs flew from houses and trees fell. The St. Anna Church was badly damaged and many of the elementary schools were hit and kept the doors closed. The authorities reported no injuries and have so far only assisted scattered traumatized people.

[misland_time_20120618-2] "Over fifty homes damaged during early morning tornado in Aruba". St. Maarten - St. Martin News. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2012. One young boy experienced shock after witnessing the event that removed the roof at the school where he was located. Although there have been injuries no fatalities were reported. Among the structures that were damaged is that of the Santa Anna Catholic church.

[1]

[2]

v t e Buildings in Aruba
Forts	Fort Zoutman
Government	City Hall Parliament Building
Hospitals	Dr. Horacio E. Oduber Hospital
Museums	Aloe Museum Historical Museum National Archaeological Museum
Other	Bushiribana and Balashi California Lighthouse National Library De Olde Molen Seroe Colorado Lighthouse University of Aruba Water Tower San Nicolas
Places of worship	Alto Vista Chapel Beth Israel Synagogue Protestant Church St. Ann's Church St. Francis of Assisi Church St. Philomena's Church
Sports venues	Don Elias Mansur Ballpark Trinidad Stadium
Transport	Queen Beatrix International Airport

Dioceses		Archdiocese of Utrecht Diocese of Breda Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam Diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch Diocese of Roermond Diocese of Rotterdam Caribbean: Diocese of Willemstad
Others	Military Ordinariate of the Netherlands Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saint Vladimir the Great of Paris
Former dioceses	Diocese of Deventer Diocese of Leeuwarden Diocese of Maastricht Diocese of Middelburg Apostolic Vicariate of Batavia Apostolic Vicariate of Grave-Nijmegen Apostolic Vicariate of Limburg Apostolic Vicariate of Ravenstein-Megen
Churches	St Catherine's Cathedral, Utrecht St. Anthony of Padua Cathedral, Breda St. Joseph Cathedral, Groningen Cathedral of St Bavo, Haarlem St. John's Cathedral ('s-Hertogenbosch) St. Christopher's Cathedral, Roermond List of Catholic churches in the Netherlands Caribbean: Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, Willemstad Basilica of St. Anne, Willemstad Pro-Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Oranjestad List of Catholic churches in the Dutch Caribbean
Monasteries	Egmond Abbey St. Benedictusberg Abbey St. Willibrord's Abbey Carmelite Monastery, Echt Berne Abbey Achel Abbey Koningshoeven Abbey Lilbosch Abbey
See also	Catholic Church in the Dutch Caribbean List of Catholic schools in the Netherlands List of Dutch saints List of Catholic seminaries Reestablishment of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands Jong Nederland Tilburg University
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