Located on the north side of the Plaza de Armas (the city’s main square). Features a Neoclassical façade with three large doors, two lateral arches, seventy columns with Corinthian capitals and two Renaissance-style towers. The construction of this church—whose history has been plagued by many ups and downs—began in 1544. It survived one earthquake after another before finally being left in ruins by a fire in 1844. Reconstruction began almost immediately and was completed in 1850, under the watch of Bishop Goyeneche y Barreda. The bishop also entrusted the creation of the main altar in Carrara marble and bronze to Felipe de Moratillo, son of Federico de Moratillo, the Queen of Spain’s official jeweler. The elder craftsman also made the famous custodia of solid gold, filigree, and precious stones that remains on display even today in this immense church. The Cathedral is also home to other treasures such as the carved wooden pulpit made in France, and the magnificent organ and wooden sculptures of the twelve apostles found in the main nave. Two subsequent earthquakes, in 1868 and 2001, rattled the Cathedral once again (even toppling one of its towers in 2001), but fortunately the damages were repaired almost immediately.