Belén | Belén |
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English In 1666, the Santo Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancur began to build this monument to be used as a lodge, hostel, church, convent and hospital. But he couldn't be able to finish the work because of his death in 1667, so his followers finished it and increased the building area between the years of 1692 and 1705; for this reason the building and its façade were made without a lot of decoration. In 1661, the Santo Hermano Pedro managed a provisional hospital, located in the church of San Francisco El Grande, fortunately he soon received the enough amount of funds to purchase the land and to start building Belen. He hosted Spaniards and American travelers; and also established the first public elementary school. The Capuchin nuns made some improvements to the building between the years of 1773 and 1852, but the building remained abandoned until 1934, when a sawmill was installed in the building. Later, it was dislodged to restore it to be used as a guesthouse. The Hermano Pedro founded the order of the Belen Sisters, who today are in charge of the place and use it as a place for spiritual retirement and convent for different catholic groups. The Belen School is where catholic education is provided to young girls and boys that attend it. At the right side of this school, is located the Guadalupe Sanctuary Church built in the XIX century, which shows on its façade several catholic saints´ images. It also can be seen the park of this colonial monument, known as the Plaza de la Paz (Peace Park), where the statue of the Santo Hermano Pedro is located. The Guatemalan artist, Roberto Gonzalez Goyri, sculpted this statue.
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El Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancourt en 1666 comenzó la construcción de este monumento con fines de brindar albergue, iglesia, convento y hospital, pero no vio su terminación debido a su muerte en 1667; sus fieles la terminaron e incrementaron el área de construcción entre 1692 y 1705 aunque en su construcción y fachadas se aprecia muy poca decoración.