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Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » South Texas » Mcallen to Raymondville » San Juan (Hidalgo County) » Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine

Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine

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1980, Robert Moore. 400 N. Nebraska Ave.
  • (The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
  • (The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America Project, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Set in a large, elevated grassy terrain, with a tall, detached bell tower serving as vertical accent, the shrine is a place of pilgrimage for residents of the region and beyond. More akin in appearance to a performing arts hall than a religious venue, the stucco and limestone facility is nearly enveloped by a covered, one-story arched walkway that offsets the shrine's auditorium-shaped upper portion. While a large, framed exterior mural at the rear of the shrine provides a dramatic backdrop for outdoor services, the interior is the architectural tour de force. It provides theater seating for 1,800 worshippers and a radiant, disk-shaped, golden altarpiece with a central niche that showcases the venerated three-foot-tall image of Our Lady of San Juan.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Delos U. Buckner Elementary School
Trinity Episcopal Church
John Stahl House
Neuhaus Tower (McAllen State Bank Building)
McAllen Civic Center

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine", [San Juan, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-MR15.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 298-298.

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