The national cathedral of Argentina, on the north side of Plaza de Mayo, is one of the more imposing neoclassical buildings in the city — a wide façade of twelve columns, a broad nave, and side chapels that accumulate the religious art of three centuries. The building is the fifth church to occupy this site since the Spanish foundation.
The mausoleum of José de San Martín, the national hero who liberated Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spanish rule, dominates the south aisle. The eternal flame nearby was lit in 1942. The cathedral is also significant for another reason: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio — Pope Francis since 2013 — served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013, celebrating mass in this building.