Valladolid Adventures Part 1: A jewel among Yucatan's treasures

Statue on the central fountain of Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado. She is called "La Mestiza" (meaning mixed Spanish and Maya) and wears an embroidered huipil, the traditional garb women in Yucatan. Manuel Cachón sculpted the statue in 1924. His original work was replaced for a time by a monument to the heroes of June 4, 1910, who ignited the Mexican Revolution. Eventually, that monument was itself replaced by this replica of the original. La Mestiza's smile epitomizes the friendly, laid-back local attitude.

In Part 1 of my Valladolid Adventures series, I will do something a little different from my past practices. I intend to briefly highlight some--but not all by far--of the fascinating things to see and do in this small city in central Yucatan. Each of these places will be covered in some depth in future parts of the series. My future postings will also cover nearby places we visited on day-trips outside Valladolid. These will include Maya sites like Ek Balam, Cobá, and Muyil, and the great colonial-era monastery at Izamal. If the Yucatan Peninsula is a treasure chest of experiences, Valladolid shines as one of the brightest jewels.

Overview

Google map of our route from Mérida to Valladolid. In January of 2017, we flew into Mérida from Guadalajara, and rented a car at the airport. We stayed the night at a nearby hotel so we would be fresh for our drive the next morning. It is a pretty straight-forward route. You head south on the highway from the airport and look for signs for the Mérida Periferico and Cancun. Once on the Periferico, you travel for 19 km (11.8 mi) or 20 minutes. Turn right at the exit for Cancun, onto the autopista Highway 180. (Alternatively, you could fly into Cancun and drive from there to Valladolid, about the same distance.)

The Highway 180 autopista (high-speed toll road) should be in excellent condition. Follow 180 for about 2 hours until you come to the exit on the right for Valladolid. From the exit, drive 5.6 km (3.5 mi) south along Highway 295 to Parque Principal in the center of the city. We stayed at Hotel Mesón Marquis, which faces the Parque's north side. There are other good hotels in Valladolid, but we chose this one because it was central and within walking distance of nearly everything we wanted to see. For a Google interactive map, click here.

Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado

The fountain of La Mestiza is surrounded by a circle of benches. Walkways radiate out from the path around the circle. Through the trees on the south side of the Parque, you can see the bell towers of Templo San Servacio, Valladolid's main church. Although the Parque is generally fairly serene, there was a colorful fiesta during part of our visit, with booths selling a variety of handicrafts. In the next posting of this series, I will give you a taste of this vibrant event.

The Parque Principal stands in an area once covered by a Maya pyramid that was 100 m2 (109.3 yds2). Following the usual Spanish practice, the pyramid was demolished and its materials were used to build the City Hall, mansions for the conquistadors, and an earlier version of the Templo San Servacio, . The space left by the removal of the pyramid became Plaza de Armas, so-named because that was where the colonial militia met to drill. In 1900, the plaza became Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado, named for the Governor of Yucatan who donated the fences surrounding the Parque. 

Templo San Servacio

The church resembles a fortress because it occasionally functioned as one. Notice the high walls and three vertical gun slits on each tower, placed there to be used during periodic Maya revolts. Since the Maya refused to stay conquered, the Spanish buildings had to be defensible. As mentioned above, the original church was built from materials looted from the pyramid of Zaci. That was the name of the people living in the area when the Spanish arrived. After the conquistador Francisco de Montejo el Sobrino defeated them, he named his new city Valladolid, which was the name of the city that was then capital of Spain. 

As I mentioned, the church above is not the original Templo San Servacio. That structure was demolished in 1705 on the order of the bishop, Don Pedro de los Rios Reyes, "to help erase the stain" of a crime that had been committed on its premises. In a future posting, I will detail how it was that the church came to be rebuilt in its present form. Visitors to my blog may have noticed that I spend a lot of time photographing and talking about religious structures like this one. I am not a religious person myself, but I do admire the artistry and cultural significance of Mexico's colonial heritage, as well as its pre-hispanic heritage. 

Hotel Mesón de Marques

Courtyard and swimming pool of our hotel. I took this shot from the balcony just outside of our room. This hotel was one of the nicest we have stayed at during our time in Mexico. The location of the hotel was ideal for exploring the city on foot. The staff were friendly, efficient, and helpful. One of the best aspects was the restaurant, located around another courtyard, where we ate most of our breakfasts and dinners. The food was delicious, reasonably priced, and the service was excellent. A future posting will cover this very special hotel.

The Méson de Marques (Mansion of the Marquis), was built in the 17th century for a high-level member of the Spanish aristocracy. In colonial times, the most important members of the local community built their homes facing the main plaza of a city, or along streets adjacent to it. The further out you lived, the lower your social status. The indigenous people lived on the outskirts and provided the cooks, maids, gardeners, and other servants of the wealthier classes. All this didn't happen by accident. It was the result of deliberate colonial urban planning dictated by Spanish King Phillip II in the last part of the 16th century. 

Ex-Convento San Bernardino de Siena de Sisal

View of the Ex-Convento from the right. The distant figure in the center is Carole. Construction on this Franciscan ex-convento (now a museum) began in 1552 and was completed in 1560. That's quite a rapid pace for such a large structure. In fact, it is the second largest Franciscan construction in Yucatan, covering 14,121 sq meters (15,442 sq yds). Included in the complex are the church, cloister, chapel, and orchard. The ornate retablo behind the church's main altar is particularly notable. Given the size of the complex, I will probably do more than one posting on it later in this series.

For those who viewed my recent series on the Franciscan convents in the Sierra Gorda, you will recall that the Franciscans played a major role in Mexico during the so-called "Spiritual Conquest". Some of the young Franciscans who worked in the Sierra Gorda ended up in leadership positions in the Yucatan missions later in their lives. That the Yucatan's two largest conventos were both Franciscan shows the significance of the Order's role here. Ex-Convento San Bernardino de Siena is located about 7 blocks southwest of the Parque.

Cenote Zaci

Cenote Zaci is a deep, shady, water-filled pit in the limestone crust of Yucatan. The small floating objects in the water are swimmers. The figure dressed in red by the tree on the left provides a sense of scale. Cenote Zaci is open from 8:30am to 5:30pm with a modest entrance fee of 30 pesos ($1.50 USD). There are changing rooms and restrooms as well as an adjacent restaurant. Lifejackets are also available. Only a few of Yucatan's cenotes are located so conveniently within a town. This one is just 4 blocks northwest of the Parque Principal. 

Cenotes are found throughout northern Yucatan and were the main water source for the ancient Maya civilizations that developed here. Including Cenote Zaci, Valladolid has at least two cenotes within blocks of where the Zaci pyramid once stood. Most of Yucatan is a flat, porous limestone shelf. Rainwater seeps down into it to form underground pools. The crust over some of these pools eventually erodes and collapses, leaving an open pool. The meteor that struck the coast of Yucatan 60 million years ago not only killed all the dinosaurs but created a series of concentric cracks in the limestone which helped create the cenotes.

Museo Regional San Roques

Ancient Maya stucco mask. The facial features include a rounded, chubby face, thick lips and a flattened nose. These give the mask an uncanny resemblance to those on the great stone Olmec heads found in the State of Veracruz. The Olmec heads were found hundreds of miles away from Valladolid, and their civilization died out at least 1000 years before this mask was made. I therefore found the resemblance very odd. I would be open to hearing from anyone who can enlighten me about this. The mask, along with other Maya artifacts, are displayed in the Museo Regional San Roque, about 1 block east of the Parque Principal. 

The site of the museum has a long and colorful history. It was originally a 4-bed hospital, founded as Hospital del Santo Nombre de Jesus in 1575 by Valladolid Mayor Don Diego Sarmiento de Figueroa. This evolved into the Convento de San Roque and by 1645 the hospital was the best in the province. All this has long since disappeared except for the temple to San Roque. Several historical figures are buried under the museum's courtyard, including those killed in the crime that resulted in the demolishment of the Temple of San Servacio, as well as activists executed at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.

Iglesia Santa Ana

Iglesia de Santa Ana, seen through one of the triple arches of its front gate. This small 16th century church was originally built for the Maya natives. At that time, all services except mass were conducted in their language. Santa Ana, the church's patron, is said to be the mother of the Virgin Mary. These very early colonial structures represent a world very different from today's modern, bustling Mexico. The structure still functions as a church after 500 years. I very much appreciate the effort Mexicans take to preserve their heritage. A future posting will take a closer look at the church, both inside and out.

Part of the open space in front of the church, called the atrium, later became a neighborhood park. It was in this park that Manuel Antonio Ay was hanged on June 30, 1847. He was an early leader of the Caste War (1847-1915), a great Maya revolt that nearly drove the Spanish out of Yucatan. Today the park contains a monument to Los Heroes Niños (the Child Heroes), commemorating the cadets who died fighting the U.S. forces that had invaded Mexico in 1846. Several young cadets died defending Chapultepec Castle. One of them, rather than surrender, wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and jumped off the high parapet.

Hacienda San Lorenzo & Cenote Oxmán

The casa grande of the hacienda has been transformed into a a hotel. Hacienda San Lorenzo was constructed in 1746. There is very little information available about its early history, some sources suggest that this hacienda may have grown agave for mezcal, a liquor similar to tequila. Distilling these liquors became important in the last half of the 18th century, so production soared. In addition haciendas in this area produced corn, cattle, and sugar. Sisal, a plant native to Yucatan, was also grown at many 19th century haciendas in north central Yucatan. It was used for twine to bale wheat sheaves and for rope to rig ships. 

The hacienda has the advantage of possessing the Oxmán Cenote, one of at least two within Valladolid. This was fortunate for the original hacienda owners because there are no rivers and very little above ground water in northern Yucatan. Lack of water inhibited crop production of any but drought-resistant plants like agave and sisal. The cenote here is very similar in size and shape to Zaci Cenote. Like at Zaci, you can swim here and there were several people in the water when we visited. As you can see above, the casa grande's pool was empty, so the experience of diving into the Oxmán Cenote must have been captivating.

Centro Artesanal Zaci

Detail from a mural of important figures from the time of the conquest of Zaci. The Centro Artesenal Zaci has a long hallway filled with large murals showing a variety of scenes from the history of Yucatan as well as rooms with handicrafts from the region.The central figure above is Francisco Montejo, armored and holding a sword. He was the man who initiated the conquest of Yucatan. His nephew, Francisco Montejo el Sobrino, founded Valladolid. Standing to the right of Montejo is the leader of the Zaci people. The seated Maya figure is a shaman or Maya priest. His counterpart, to the left of Montejo, is a Spanish priest who holds a cross aloft. The theme of the mural is the imposition of the new culture. 

The building stands just to the west of Hotel Mesón de Marques. It was once a the mansion of a conquistador, but it later became part of the Casa Cural (parsonage or priest's house). Refurbished in the 19th century, the building housed the Model Central School in 1906 and the Military Exercises Professorship in 1908. The Bolio family owned the property as a private home for a time, but in 1940 it again became a school named after local luminary Delio Moreno Cartón. In 2007, the school was moved and the Valladolid Administration opened the Centro Artesenal Zaci.

Casa de los Venados

"Hi! What's up? Come on in and relax!" A scary skeleton, with a somewhat off-putting expression, greeted us when we arrived at Casa de los Venados (House of the Deer). This is the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Venator, who own Mexico's largest private collection of folk art. Over 35 years, they gathered more than 3000 items, including some of the most extraordinary I have yet encountered. After we made the expected donation of $100 pesos ($5.00 USD), our Mexican guide Freddy showed us around the place. Neither the Venators nor Freddy had any problem with the considerable number of photos I took. 

John Venator retired to Yucatan after a career as a CEO of an international trade organization in Chicago. He and his wife looked at various places in both Mérida and Valladolid before buying this 18,000 square foot property. It has become both their home and their private museum. The house was largely in ruins when they purchased it, but they remodeled it over 8 years, first for vacations, then as their retirement home. Casa de los Venados is 1/2 block south of the Parque Principal. They share it with a small terrier who loves to sit on John's lap. Whatever else you decide to see in Valladolid, don't miss a visit to this place!

This completes Part 1 of my Valladolid Adventures series. In Part 2, I will show you around the Parque Principal and the colorful fiesta we encountered there. I hope you enjoyed this first part. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a comment, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

Lake Chapala's South Shore revisited - Tizapan el Alto and Mismaloya

A Great White Egret perches at the top of a spindly tree at the water's edge. Great Whites abound along Lake Chapala's shoreline. They are one of two species regularly encountered, the other being the Snowy Egret. The Great White Egret is the larger of the two. They are both year-round residents of this Mexican lake, unlike the White Pelicans I will show later in this posting. On December 20 of 2024, I led a group of fellow expats over to visit some interesting sites on the south shore of Lake Chapala. 

First, we stopped at a couple of old haciendas located in Tizapan and checked out the interior of the church on the town's plaza. Afterward, we lunched at a restaurant called Mirador del Marinero (Sailor's Lookout). The restaurant is located in Mismaloya, a fishing village a few miles west of Tizapan along the shore. Before we departed Mismaloya, we went down to the water's edge to enjoy the antics of large flocks of White Pelicans. It was a gorgeous winter's day, the kind made for a trip like this.

Overview

Google satellite map showing our route to Tizapan. We took the carretera (highway) from Ajijic to Jocotopec on the western tip of the Lake, then turned south and east along Carretera #15. Once on the south shore highway, traffic is typically light, except when passing through the pueblo of San Luis Soyatlan, where the very narrow street creates somewhat of a bottleneck. About 4 km (3 mi) before reaching Tizapan, the highway passes above Mismaloya along a high bluff. Just off the road to the left, overlooking the Lake, is the Mirador del Marinero restaurant.

Ex-Hacienda Santa Ana

The ruins of the old casa grande are all that is left of ex-Hacienda Santa Ana. In the Google satellite view above, the top of the photo is north. It shows a structure that must have been quite large at one time. Now, only the casa grande's ruined, unroofed walls remain. The property is surrounded on three sides by modern structures. To find it, we followed the highway through Tizapan until we had reached the town's eastern outskirts. 

Highway #15 runs from left (west) to right (east) just above the top of the photo. From the highway, we spotted a large arch (top left of photo) off to our right over the entrance to a street called Calle Jalisco. The sign on the arch says "Fraccionamiento Hacienda de Santa Ana". Turning right (south) off the highway, we headed up the street, passing under the arch. The casa grande's ruins were immediately visible on our left. For an interactive Google map, click here.

The casa grande's main entrance is framed in brick. The walls extending to the north and south on either side are adobe. This (west) side of the structure is difficult to access, because there is a barbed wire fence along the street that parallels the front and there is no gate. However, I discovered that taking the first left turn off Calle Jalisco, and then the next two lefts, we could circle around to the unfenced east side of the casa grande. The ruins were full of brush and rubble, so long pants and good walking shoes or boots were essential. Because we often have no idea of what conditions we will find, we always prepare for anything. 

Hillary explores one of the central rooms. This was her first Hacienda Hunt, but she is an experienced hiker so she did just fine. The walls of the room around Hillary are mostly adobe, but the one along the east side was built with rough stone. I have been unable (so far) to discover much information about ex-Hacienda Santa Ana. The only historical mention I have found is that it existed in 1825. However, a lot can be surmised by the materials used in its construction.

For the first 150 years or so of the colonial period, adobe and rough stone were the primary construction materials. Beginning in the 17th and into the 18th centuries, cut stone and clay bricks were increasingly employed. From the late 18th through the early 20th centuries, manufactured clay brick was widely used. However, there is considerable overlap in these timelines. For example, adobe is still being used in some places in Mexico. I have found only a handful of late 19th and early 20th century haciendas where wood was the primary material and these structures were casas grandes that were not built in the classic style. 

Remains of an interior hallway and a door that opens into an adjacent room. These structures can be seen in the Google Satellite photo at the south end of the casa grande.  As with the main entrance, the doorway above is framed with brick, while the walls are adobe. The ruins suggest to me that the casa grande may have been  constructed much earlier than 1825, possibly in the 18th or even the late 17th century. Additions and modifications were likely made over the next 200-300 years. Just as I can't tell precisely when it was built, I also have no information about when it was abandoned, nor about its owners.

Adobe has been used for centuries because it is easy to make and cheap. The only raw materials needed are dirt and water, with straw as a binder. Wood molds are packed with the mixture and left to dry in the sun. All these materials are free and readily available nearly everywhere. The only cost is for the labor. In the earlier centuries, forced labor by native people or African slaves could be used. Even after the early 19th century, when slavery was abolished in Mexico, labor costs were minimal. The Revolution raised labor costs somewhat, but adobe remains a cheap building material for those with limited funds but strong backs.

Templo de San Francisco de Asis, Tizapan 

Atrium and facade of the Templo de San Francisco de Asis. The twin towers are reputed to be the tallest in the Lake Chapala area. Construction began on the Templo in 1836 and was finally completed in 1905. Although it is devoted to St. Francis of Assisi, it is a parroquia (parish church) of the Diocese of Guadalajara and was never connected to the Franciscan Order or a monastery. A nine-day patronal (fiesta for the patron saint) is celebrated from September 26 to October 4 and draws visitors and locals totaling more than 10,000 people. The festivities include two parades each day, as well as food, craft stalls and more. 

The apse contains the baptismal font and the main altar. Both the exterior and interior of the church are mostly of the Neo-Classic style popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Double pillars on each side of the altar frame a tableau of St. Francis helping Jesus off the cross. This portrayal is religious rather than historical, because the two were separated in time by about 1200 years. One source suggests that the tableau is about the humility of St. Francis.

The Virgin Mary stands between two sets of bundled columns. Jesus perches on her left arm. Two tall, elaborate candle holders stand in front. This scene is just to the right of the main tableau with St. Francis and Jesus. To the left of the Virgin is a doorway with a trefoil arch. This form of arch was a common element of Gothic architecture, touches of which can be found in several parts of the church. However, trefoil arches date back even earlier than the Gothic era. They are a characteristic of the architecture brought to Spain by the Moors who ruled parts of the country between 711 AD  and 1492 AD.

One of the nave walls contains this elaborate painting. It seems to be centered on a white dove perched between two mountains who is holding the whole complicated image up with its tiny beak. Several slightly different versions of this painting are repeated on other walls. Their meanings are obscure, but the images are nevertheless striking.

Ex-Hacienda San Francisco Javier

The arch of an aqueduct forms the entrance to ex-Hacienda San Francisco Javier. The aqueduct once brought water to the machinery that was used to process the hacienda's sugar cane crop. The structure where the processing was done can be seen on the right, just beyond the arch. The tiny figure in the center, dressed in red, is Carole. This 500-year-old hacienda is located on the western outskirts of Tizapan. A good way to spot it is the tall, slender smokestack you will see several hundred yards off to the right as you approach the city. It can also be located using this Google map.

Courtyard of the casa grande. Just behind the column on the left are the remains of an old circular fountain that used to be the courtyard's central focus. The steps in the background go up to some second story bedrooms. The casa grande and most of its buildings are in semi-ruins, but are still evocative and photographically interesting. While some rooms are not habitable, a couple of them are still occupied by the caretaker's small family. 

According to official records, the hacienda was founded in 1542 by Alonso de Avalos, one of the original conquistadors under Hernán Cortéz. It was part of the vast holdings south of Lake Chapala that were acquired by Avalos and his family. The hacienda passed through the hands of several different families over the centuries, before finally being broken up during the land distributions that followed the Revolution. 

Allan steps carefully over loose cobblestones outside a door to the stables. Allan is a professional artist and very talented photographer. He is also one of the veterans of our group of Hacienda Hunters. Originally hailing from Great Britain, he lived in the US for many years before moving to Lake Chapala and building a home with his U.S.-born wife Catherine. 

This unusually tall doorway shows the various materials used over the centuries, including adobe, brick, and cantera around the door frame. The plaster that still remains in patches once covered the whole adobe wall. This was  to prevent deterioration, but even un-plastered adobe can survive for centuries. In desert conditions it can last for thousands of years. The word itself has survived almost unchanged for 4000 years.

Please! Tell me when my release date is?  While wandering by one of the old buildings, we were startled to encounter this pitiful little guy peering wistfully through the bars. We were mystified, but finally decided that this was just another example of the quirky, whimsical, Mexican sense of humor. After taking a few photographs, we decided that lunch was in order and set off for Mismaloya. To see more of this hacienda and learn about its tumultuous history, click here.

Mismaloya

Speaking of quirky, this sight greeted us upon our arrival at the restaurant. Santa was frantically scrambling up a Christmas tree, but a large pooch had taken hold of his pants and left him somewhat exposed. I've seen a lot of Christmas decorations in my 77-year lifetime, but never one like this! The Mirador del Marinero restaurant is located just off the north side of Highway #15, on the edge of a small plateau overlooking Mismaloya. The hill drops off very steeply beyond the tables you see in the background. This provides a stupendous 180 degree view of Lake Chapala, including at least 25 miles of the northern shoreline.

A local fisherman heads out past a flock of White Pelicans. While we ate, we observed large numbers of pelicans gathered along Mismaloya's shoreline. Periodically a flock would rise up in a cloud of flapping wings when disturbed by a passing boat or sometimes for no apparent reason at all. We decided to drive down to the shore to get a closer look. Unlike the egrets, the pelicans visit seasonally, arriving in force between December and March. This is also pretty much when most of the our Canadian population drops in and for pretty much the same reason. Both groups are known locally as "snow birds".

In a secluded nook along the shore, pelicans preen, flap their wings and mill about. This flock numbered about two dozen birds and they were clearly enjoying themselves. Since I was using my telephoto zoom, I was able to stand far enough away that they were not concerned by my presence. Of course, they are quite used to people being nearby, since the people who clean the fishermen's catch feed them fish scraps. There is such a thing as a free lunch! 

White Pelicans taking off. As this photo shows, the pelicans are not entirely white. The ends of their wings are black and their beaks and feet are orange. While the pelicans are clumsy and a bit comical when they walk around on land, they are graceful both in flight and while swimming. White Pelicans are different not only in appearance from their Brown Pelican cousins, but in  their behavior as well. 

The Whites migrate seasonally from Canada and favor fresh-water inland lakes, but the Browns generally hang out along the Mexican seashore year-round, although some do migrate. The Whites swim in long flotillas to herd fish close to shore. There, they can catch the fish simply by ducking their heads into the shallow water. The Browns, by contrast, glide along in the air over the waves, looking for prey. Then, they swoop up to a height from which they can dive down into the water.

This completes my posting on Tizapan and Mismaloya. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

Sierra Gorda Part 14 of 14: The Misión San Miguel Concá church interior

Carole views the mission church at Concá. Previously, in Part 13, I showed and explained the fascinating details of the steeple and facade. I also described the mission's location and history. This time, we'll take a peek at some of the interesting features of the interior. The inside of the church has the restrained, even Spartan, style known as Neo-Classic while the exterior has the exuberantly florid Baroque Churrigueresque style. Remodeling of church interiors from Baroque to Neo-Classic often occurred during the late 18th and 19th centuries when architectural tastes changed. 

The apse contains the main altar. The basic structures of many Catholic churches date back to pre-Christian Roman times. Over the centuries, churches like the one in Concá were laid out to imitate the Christian cross. The apse represents the top part of the cross and is located at the far end of the nave from the entrance. This semi-circular space is the main focus of the whole church. The nave is the seating area for the congregants and forms the long part of the cross. The two arms of the transept form the crosspiece. The church dome is centered over the point where the nave and transept intersect. 

The back of the apse has an altar table which contains a reliquary, guarded by two angels on its face and stand-alone angels on either side. A statue of the church's namesake (St. Michael the Archangel) hangs above the altar table, with a crucifix placed a bit higher on the wall. Included within the apse are a speaker's podium and a bishop's chair. Flowers are changed according to seasonal fiestas. There is very little other decoration. Below, I will describe the origins and meanings of many of the church's interior features, including those in the apse, the nave, and the baptismal room.

St Michael wields his sword as he stomps on Satan. The spray of flowers at St. Michael's feet obscures Satan, who is probably represented as a snake or a dragon. As I explained in Part 13, St. Michael is considered the most important of God's angels and is the one who led the angelic army when Satan was ousted from heaven. St. Michael the Archangel was a favorite of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order. St. Francis believed in St. Michael's special powers to combat evil, so images and statues of him appear at many of the Sierra Gorda's Franciscan missions.

A reliquary contains the relics of saints or other sacred objects. The goblet radiating a halo represents the chalice used at the Last Supper. It is guarded by two small angels standing in front of Neo-classic pilasters. A reliquary might contain objects such as fragments of the bones or other objects such as pieces of clothing that the saint wore or may have touched. The original purpose of collecting and protecting such relics was to preserve the memory and sense of holiness of the saint. The intent was to assist worshipers when they prayed for a saint's intersession. Veneration of the relics themselves was not the intention.

However, belief in the magical powers of relics quickly spread in the early church and has persisted among many of today's worshipers. Legends about the power of particular relics grew, and this drew pilgrims from far away who made donations. Church officials soon took notice. As a result, relics became valuable and unscrupulous people trafficked them for profit. In fact, many relics were fake and some were attributed to saints who themselves never actually existed. Sometimes people from one church stole famous relics from another to gain status and attract pilgrims and money. 

A piece of furniture known as a "bishop's chair" is often found in an apse. Its presence is a link to ancient times when chairs were seen as symbols of authority. Until the 4th century AD, Christian believers were severely persecuted. They could only worship in secret and often met in Rome's underground graveyards, called catacombs. Archeologists have found sites in the catacombs where early Christians gathered. In these spaces special seats were carved out of the the rock for the leader of the group. 

After the Emperor Constantine ended the persecution, the church hierarchy began to develop. When officiating, the first bishops sat on a cathedra (Latin for "chair"). The headquarters of a bishop thus became a cathedral. Until the late 18th century, the Franciscan mission churches in the Sierra Gorda, including this one, were not part of the diocese of Querétaro. The Franciscans were a separate religious organization with its own rules and hierarchy. Therefore, a bishop's chair would not have been present in the church at Concá until it was secularized and turned over to the authority of the Querétaro diocese in 1770.

Ceiling of the dome over the transept. It has an octagonal shape, with windows on each of its eight sides. The number eight is significant in both Christian and Jewish beliefs. According to the New Testament, Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph on Palm Sunday. Eight days later, after his crucifixion, he rose from the dead. There are seven days in a week and the eighth day begins a new week and therefore represents a new beginning, a new order, or a new creation. In addition, there are eight beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, beginning with "blessed are the poor in spirit...". Many other examples can be found.

Christianity is rooted deeply in the Old Testament and Jewish culture as it existed in the 1st century AD. Eight had been an important number among Jews for centuries before Jesus' time. For example, eight is the first cubic number (2x2x2). Since both the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and the Jerusalem Temple were of the same height, length, and width, they form a perfect cube. Eight people were saved on the Ark: Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their son's wives. Eight days after an Israelite male child was born, he was circumcised. As with Christianity, there is much more evidence of the importance of the number eight.

View toward the choir loft over the church entrance. At the bottom of the photo, you can see a small amount of decoration on the arch over the entrance foyer. However, there is an almost complete lack of decoration on the walls or ceiling of the nave. This, once again, contrasts with the wildly florid decoration of the exterior of the church. The word "nave" comes from the Latin navis, meaning "ship". The shape of a nave, with its vaulted ceiling, resembles the hull of an upturned ship. The church was seen as a ship, like Noah's ark, carrying the congregants across life's turbulent sea to the safe harbor of heaven. 

Until the 17th century Baroque era, the seating area for choirs was located between the congregants in the nave and the priests in the sanctuary (the altar area). The all-male choir sat in rows of ornate seats along either side of the nave, perpendicular to the congregant seating. However, musical developments in the Baroque period, as well as the addition of women to choirs, necessitated their placement in lofts above and behind the congregants. 

Decoration on the arch over the entrance foyer. This is one of the few decorated areas of the church's interior. Included are ears of corn, one of the sacred symbols of native people. Many pre-hispanic cultures and civilizations believed that the gods had taught humans how to grow corn. This is not surprising, given how essential corn was to the diet of the native population. Without the food surplus provided by the cultivation of corn, many of the ancient New World civilizations may never have developed.

The exquisitely decorated baptismal font. A font is a bowl containing water that rests on a pedestal and is used for baptisms. This one stands in a small room next to a painting of St. Francis. The room is located at the base of the steeple just inside the main entrance of the church. Placing the room near the entrance was intended to remind the faithful that they began as a member of the church congregation through their own baptism. This font is the one originally installed in the 18th century. It is ornately carved and decorated with colored clay. The decoration contrasts with the simplicity of the room and its other contents. 

Like the early seats for Christian leaders, baptismal fonts have also been found in the Roman catacombs. However, the origins of baptism go back even further than Christianity itself. During the Second Temple period (515 BC-70 AD), Jewish ritual practices included washing, sprinkling, bathing, and immersing with water. According to the Bible's New Testament, John the Baptist was following these ancient rituals when he baptized Jesus. As the early Christian movement grew, it developed its own specific meanings for baptism.  Fonts for use in the ritual developed from there.

A cross covered with small photos stands in one corner of the nave. The walls behind the cross are covered by stenciled designs in one of the few decorated sections of the church interior. There was no information available about the people in the photos or why their pictures are attached to the cross. 

One possibility is that they are migrants who have left for the dangerous journey across Mexico's northern border. Attaching their photos to the cross may be a way of praying for their safety. Alternatively, these may be people who have died from disease or violence and their photos may be a prayer for their safe arrival in heaven. Whatever the reason, I found this rustic little display particularly poignant.

Detail of the photos on the cross. Most of the people appear to be young, with a few of middle age. Males predominate, but there is a sizable minority of women and a handful of children. Whoever and wherever they they are, I wish them well.

This completes Part 14 of my Sierra Gorda series and also ends the series itself. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

Sierra Gorda Part 13 of 14: Misión San Miguel Concá

Atrium, church, and cloister of Misión San Miguel Concá. The original mission in Concá was established by the Augustinians. However, in 1739 Spanish Col. José Escandon y Helguera reported its poor condition to the Viceroy, so the mission was turned over to the Franciscans.  Concá is the smallest of the five Sierra Gorda missions that they built. The church and cloister seen above were constructed between 1750 and 1754 under the supervision of two friars, José Antonio Murguía and Joaquín Fernández Osorio. As always, the actual labor and craftsmanship were performed by the local Pame tribesmen.

In this posting, I'll show you some of the exterior features, including the church steeple and facade. While there are plenty of Catholic statues and symbols, there are also many unusual indigenous images, some of which relate to pre-Hispanic religious beliefs. The inclusion of these native features was a deliberate strategy of Junipero Serra, the Sierra Gorda's Franciscan chief. He wanted to attract the Pame by incorporating some of their symbols into the way the Christian message was presented. This strategy is called synchronicity. 

Overview

Google map showing the route from Jalpan de Serra to Concá. To reach Misíon San Miguel Concá, take Highway 69 from Jalpan de Serra 36.9km (23mi) to the northwest. When you reach Concá , look for Restaurant Los Arcos on your left. About 100m further is an intersection on the right with a bus stop. Take a left there and follow the street until you reach the mission. For a Google interactive map showing how to get to Jalpan de Serra from the Guadalajara/Lago de Chapala area, click here . 

Steeple

Unlike the other missions, the mission's bellfry has only one level. The octagonal bellfry  has openings for four bells. It sits on a tall quadrangular tower with interesting trompe d'oeil designs painted on its sides. Each bell opening is framed by fluted columns on either side. In the narrow spaces between the columns are relief carvings of vines and there is more vegetation carved along the cornices. Above the capitals on the top of the columns are finials in the shape of flowers. Notice the thin, conical structure with a spiral design in the lower right. I'll talk about this with a subsequent photo.   

The four-petal flowers along the cornices have pre-Hispanic religious meanings. The inclusion of these images were part of Serra's strategy of synchronicity. Four-petal flowers are a common symbol on pre-Hispanic pagan temples. They relate to the belief that the cosmos is based on the four cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) .  

Each of the four directions had its own god, color, and myths. The center of the flower represented a fifth direction: up and down, or heaven and earth. It was also the center of the universe and some believed it was where the rain god Tlaloc lived in a room made of turquoise. I have seen the four-petal flower symbol in the temples of a variety of different pre-Hispanic civilizations, although they are separated by great distances and many centuries.

The conical structure with a spiral design is a finial.  It stands on top of one of the two buttresses that frame the church entrance. Just below the cone is an muscular little creature of uncertain species, with long hair cascading down its back. The figure's posture suggests that it is supporting the base of the cone. On the other side of the entrance is another buttress, topped by another cone and supported by a similar creature. Both are probably related to Pame religious beliefs, which incorporated the animals as well as plants of the Sierra Gorda. 

On the same buttress, but just below, is a comical relief carving . The face of the mop-haired figure has a curling handlebar mustache similar to those worn by Spanish men. This suggests that it is a caricature of a Spaniard. While native people did sometimes grow facial hair, it was generally too sparse to support an extravagant mustache like this. The figure's nose is bulbous, its tongue lolls out, and its arms are widely spread. 

The comical "Spaniard" is bow-legged, as many Spanish men would have been, since they virtually lived on their horses. The Pame artisan seems to have been having a little fun at the expense of his Spanish overlords.  This figure reminds me of a bit of the traditional Purepecha "Dance of the Old Men", which also subtly satirizes the Spanish. On the inside face of each buttress is a double-headed eagle. This was the emblem of the Hapsburg dynasty, whose empire once ruled Spain, its colonial possessions, and much of the rest of Europe. 

A trompe d'oeil design covers the sides of the bell tower . The French term  means "deceive the eye" and refers to an artistic style that produces images that appear to be three-dimensional but are actually in two dimensions. This particular design was popular in 18th and 19th century Mexico. I have seen very similar ones in many colonial and early Republic structures.  

Facade

Like the other missions, this one has a highly decorated facade. There are five niches with statues and one triple statue at the very top. In addition, there are relief carvings of at least four cherubs and a profusion of plants and flowers. In this photo, you can see the two buttresses with conical tops that frame the entrance. The doorway has a trefoil arch, which differs from the smoothly rounded arches of the other four churches. Trefoil arches are architectural features introduced by the Muslim Moors between 711 and 1492, the era when they dominated the Iberian Peninsula.

Four-petal flowers decorate the base of the facade, along with ears of corn.  Corn also had deep meaning to native people. It was the most important food crop of pre-Hispanic Mexico and the agricultural foundation for all of the great pre-Hispanic civilizations. As such, it was viewed as a gift from the gods and various cultures had myths about how and why humans received it. For example, the Aztecs believed corn was given to humans by Quetzalcoatl , the famous Feathered Serpent.

To the left of the entrance, St. Francis stands with a wolf at his side. The statue was beheaded during the Revolutionary era. The wolf is a reference to a legend about St. Francis. When he visited the small Italian town of Gubbio, he  learned of a wolf that had been terrorizing the residents and he persuaded the people to let him intercede. The wolf charged Francis, but stopped when confronted by the sign of the cross. Together, Francis and the wolf visited the town to bring about a reconciliation. The wolf would stop killing and the people would feed it. More four-petal flowers line the wall on the left and above the trefoil arch. 

A statue of St. Anthony of Padua on the right was also beheaded. St. Anthony (1195-1231) was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in the year 1232. This occurred only 11 months after his death making it one of the quickest in history. In many cases, it has taken hundreds of years for someone to become a saint. Anthony was ordained as a priest at a very young age but, after hearing of the martyrdom of several Franciscan friars in Morocco, he decided to join the Franciscan Order. Anthony was famous for being a great preacher and friend of the poor and  became a trusted associate of Francis of Assisi, the Order's founder. 

The Franciscan emblem is located between the top of the door and the choir window. The emblem has been described in my previous posts so I won't cover it here. Just above the emblem are two winged cherubs, one on either side. Each grips a crown with one hand while holding the Franciscan rope in the other. The rope's knots symbolize the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Each knot has five coils representing the Five Stigmata, which were the wounds suffered by Jesus at his crucifixion. Two more cherubs hold curtains open on either side of the choir window.

On the middle left is a niche containing St. Ferdinand. King Ferdinand III (1199-1252) is remembered as a just and tolerant king. He founded the University of Salamanca, as well as hospitals, bishoprics, monasteries, churches, and cathedrals. In addition, Ferdinand often pardoned offenders against his throne. However, he was also a warrior king who fought against the Spanish Moors. Ferdinand III not only defended his realm but expanded it by capturing their city Moorish city of Cordoba. 

While he was King, Ferdinand decided to become a Secular Franciscan. This required him to be a devout Catholic (which he was), but also allowed him to be married and live in the world. When he died in 1252, he was buried wearing his Franciscan habit. Of the 10,000+ people canonized over the last two millennia, only about 60 have been monarchs. This small portion of the list (0.006) is not surprising to me, given how monarchs typically behave, particularly those in power prior to the 20th century.

San Roque, with his dutiful dog, occupies a niche on the middle right.  Also called St. Roch, he was born in 1349 in Montpellier where his father was the local governor. San Roque and his dog also appear on the facade of the mission at Tancoyal. In Part 12, I told the story of this saint and the dog who saved him. His niche is framed by two Solomonic columns with ears of corn hanging on them. Miracles associated with San Roque began even before his birth. His mother was thought to be barren, but miraculously conceived and when the future saint was born, he had a cross-shaped birthmark. 

Saint Michael waves his sword in triumph over Satan. St. Michael, as he is also known, is an Archangel, one of the most important of all angels. According to Catholic belief, he is the leader of God's armies and drove Satan from Heaven. St. Michael is nearly always shown with a sword in his hand and his foot on Satan, portrayed as a dragon. Above, Satan looks like a mountain lion with a semi-human face. The big cat was probably chosen rather than a dragon because the Pame craftsmen would have been familiar with mountain lions. Ears of corn hang down between the columns on either side of St. Michael.

A portrayal of the Trinity tops the facade. According to Catholic belief, the Trinity consists of the Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost. None of the three shown above is noticeably larger or dressed differently than the others, However, since God is the most important of the three, I assume he is the one in the center. Each of the three stands with one foot on the ground and the other raised and resting on a globe, presumably representing the world. This oddly casual group appears to be having a nice chat about the events of the day and the future of the cosmos.

This completes Part 13 of my Sierra Gorda series. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim