Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean

Portal of Culture of Latin America and the Caribbean

Argentina - Capilla de San Baltazar de la familia Perichón (Chapel to Saint Balthazar of the Perichon Family)

The chapel has a museum in which offers to the saint are displayed. It was established by the family in 2012. Saint King Balthazar, Patron Saint of the afro Argentineans and followers of candombe. This is today the most extended and popular afro Argentinean cultural expression and it is celebrated every January 6. The cult is expressed in around two hundred chapels, sanctuaries and family altars in the provinces of Corrientes, Chaco, Santa Fe, and in a couple of areas in Buenos Aires. This cult started in Corrientes and in the city of Buenos Aires towards the mid 18th century when the Catholic Church imposed the cult on the enslaved Africans, who soon made it their own, introducing African values, such as worshipping through music and dance.

See more

Public all year, the Celebration of the Saint is on January 6, moment in which the chapel is decorated.
See less
. .

Other data of interest

Argentina

Historical name

Capilla de San Baltazar de la familia Perichón (Chapel to Saint Balthazar of the Perichon Family)

Address

Ruta 12, km 832, mano norte, El Batel, provincia de Corrientes

Classification

Construction

Function-Testimony

Religious-ceremonial site

Access level

Free

Current Use

Chapel to worship Saint Balthazar

Original use

Site of devotion

Property kind

Private

Expressions of intangible heritage associated

During the festive cycle of the saint (December 25 to January 6) there are two distinctive performance characteristics: 1) There are a number of devotional positions that the devout take up for a minimum of 3 years and sometimes for life: Queens, second lieutenant, lieutenant, the queen´s companion and camba’rangá or those who disguise as the saint. 2) The music played is the traditional common music of Corrientes (chamamé, valseado and cumbia) but adding the drum, which is considered “the voice of the Saint”, and therefore plays a central role.