The Metropolitan and Primate Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and Saint Peter of Bogotá or better known as the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Bogotá and Primate of Colombia, officially Sacred Holy Temple Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica and Primate of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and Saint Peter, is a cathedral church of Catholic worship consecrated to the Immaculate Conception and under the patronage of Saint Peter; it is a Neoclassical style building located in the Plaza de Bolívar in Bogotá, the country's capital. The cathedral is the seat of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bogotá and Primate of Colombia, recognized with the honorary title of Primate of Colombia by Pope Leo XIII, through the Decree of the Consistorial Congregation of November 7, 1902. It is also the seat of the Cabildo metropolitano and of the "Parish of the Cathedral Basilica Metropolitana de Bogotá Saint Peter". The cathedral was designed by Domingo de Petrés and was built between 1807 and 1823 in the same place where three other churches were previously erected, which successively served as cathedrals for the city. Due to its historical significance, architectural and cultural value, it was declared a Monumento Nacional by decree 1,584 of August 11, 1975. History The Spanish conquistadors to the Bogotá savanna, the missionary Friar Domingo de las Casas celebrated the first Holy Mass on August 6, 1538, in a modest chapel of mud and straw roofs, and before a banner that rests on the cathedral, in the place where the first stones were laid for the construction of a church. The place was named by the Spanish as Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza. In 1553, at the initiative of Friar Juan de los Barrios, the decision was made to build a cathedral with mud and brick walls in the same place as the current cathedral, according to the provisions of the Cabildo, for which a public tender was called that assigned the works to Baltasar Díaz and Pedro Vásquez, associated with the bricklayer Juan Rey, with a budget of 1,000 pesos. In 1560, after spending more than 6,000 pesos and on the eve of its inauguration collapsed the roof of the construction. Despite this, on September 11, 1562, Pope Pius VI granted it the title of Cathedral. Twelve years later, Friar Juan de los Barrios, the first archbishop of the city, brought on his shoulders the first stone for a new cathedral, thus