Historic Evolution of the Temple of San Pedro and San Pablo de Zepita, and the Origins of the Structural Faults

Abstract

The historic chronology of the San Pedro y San Pablo de Zepita identifies two construction stages over the period of approximately 130 years, time during which the religious architectural typology of the Peruvian Viceroyalty varied in form and style. It is posited that the Second construction stage reutilized the base of the temple of the first stage. In this process, walls were raised, spaces were enlarged, the structure was overloaded by a vault roof over the gospel, and the construction of an attached tower took place. This process generated the initial fault, the settling of the gospel wall, and displacement of the ground zone of lesser carrying capacity. The fault consequently generated fissuring in the clave of the vault, a crack in the mid-zone of the headwall, settling of the tower, and in the 20th century, partial collapses that correspond to the initial causes and to the sum of other factors of deterioration.