Amacueca's 16th century church and convent, Part 2 of 2

Parroquia del Dulce Nombre de Jesus. The Parish Church of the Sweet Name of Jesus was originally erected in 1547, making it one of the oldest in Jalisco. The gray stone facade contains four time-worn statues of Franciscan saints, framed by spiraling Solomonic columns, fashioned in the Baroque style. The campanario (bell tower) and the clock are from the 19th century. A large paved atrium spreads out in front of the church.

Atriums served very practical purposes. For thousands of years, indigenous people had worshipped their gods in the open, usually in front of their temple-pyramids. Assembling inside a church to worship the new Christian deity was very alien to their experience. In addition, native populations were often too large to fit inside early churches. Consequently, open-air atriums were constructed so that native people could gather for mass conversions and other religious activities.

In this posting, I will focus on the long history Amacueca's Parroquia. The church dates back to the middle of the 16th century and contains a variety of architectural styles, including Moorish, Mexican Churrigueresque, and Neo-Classic. Inside, a large reredo stands behind the altar. It is unusually elaborate for a small church in a rather remote community. I will begin with some of the interesting features on the outside of the church.

Exterior features

The gate into the atrium is topped with a Moorish arch. Pointed arches like this are an echo of the architecture that developed in Spain during 700 years of Moorish domination. The Moors invaded from North Africa in 711 AD and were finally expelled by Christian Spaniards in 1492 AD. 

The Christian Reconquista (Re-Conquest) had been long and bitterly fought. Along the way, however, the Christians adopted many elements of Moorish culture including artistic styles. The Moorish surrender occurred just before Columbus set off on his Voyage of Discovery. As the Spanish settled in the New World, they brought the styles of art and architecture they had learned from the Moors.

View of the campanario from the rear. Hanging from it are five bells of various sizes. The three largest carry dates ranging from 1887 to 1954. The campanario was constructed later than the gray stone facade of the church, probably in the 19th century. Prior to that, the church and its convent would have employed other bells. Where they were hung and what became of them are unknown to me.

The bell on the side of the campanario is fixed to a headstock. The headstock, or yoke, is a wooden framework that pivots back and forth when a rope is pulled, causing the bell's clapper to strike the interior. The fact that this bell is fixed to a headstock of antique design strongly suggests that it is the earliest one, dated 1887. It is possible that the headstock is even older.

Three weights hang from the clock's mechanism.. I photographed these on my way down from the church roof. The mechanism inside a clocktower is known as a turret clock and this one is powered by weights. The first turret clock was constructed in the 11th century. Several centuries later, in 1370,  Henri de Vick installed the first weight-driven turret clock in the Palais du Roi (Palace of the King) in Paris. Amacueca's clock was installed in 1872 by Teodosio Diaz Flores, the parish priest. 

Statue of San Antonio de Padua, to the right of the main door. There are four statues of Franciscan saints in niches on the facade of the church. Two are on either side of the main door and two more on either side of the choir loft window above. 

A group of Franciscans, known as the Twelve Apostles of Mexico, were the first of the Religious Orders to land in the New World's mainland. They debarked in Vera Cruz in 1524, barely two years after the fall of the Aztec Empire. 

The arrival of the Franciscans marked the launch of the so-called Spiritual Conquest. This was the ideological twin of the Military Conquest. Franciscan friar Juan de Padilla reached Amacueca in 1535 and began evangelizing the natives. Franciscans would continue to control the religious affairs of the town for 164 years.

Antique hardware on the main entrance's old wooden door. I am always fascinated by the old locks and other hardware on historic buildings. This lock is fully functional and definitely not just for decoration. The iron key must be quite large and heavy, not the sort that you would casually slip in your pocket.

In 1547, another Franciscan named Simon de Bruselas (Simon of Brussels) began construction on the church/convent complex. These buildings became the center of the area's missionary activity. The project was probably accomplished using forced labor under the encomienda system. This system allowed Spaniards to demand free labor from indigenous people in return for protection and instruction in Christianity. This was a pretty good deal, as long as you were on the right end of it.

Interior of Church

Monolithic baptismal font. The term monolithic means the font was carved from a single piece of stone. My friend Richard Perry blogs about colonial Mexico and has written a number of excellent books that I have found useful in my blog research and as guides while traveling in Mexico. No information about this baptismal font was available elsewhere, so I consulted him. Richard was able to provide the following details:

"This is a fine old monolithic font, skillfully carved with Cristic and Marian acronyms like some others I have seen. The cord molding around the base suggests its Franciscan origin and it may well be the original mission font, which would date it to the late 1500s, most likely. I see that it has a projecting knob which indicates that it is/was portable, probably used in the convento or outside in the old atrium--another feature that supports its early date."

The reredo is surprisingly ornate for small rural church. Its Churrigueresque style follows a design popular in the city of Queretaro. The side panels were carved in the early 1800's, but the center panel was damaged in an earthquake in 1749 and was replaced at a more recent date.

The craftsmanship of the reredo is of a high order. In my previous posting, my photo showed the two top niches empty, because the statues were being restored. This shot, taken a year later, shows them in place. All the statues in the niches are Franciscan saints. The statue on the crucifix was carved from wood in the 16th century.

The word reredo comes from Latin, meaning "board behind". These large and intricately-carved wooden structures can be found behind altars. They generally have several niches containing religious statues or paintings. Reredos carved in the Churrigueresque style are decorated with  cherub heads and floral curlicues, in addition to the paintings and statues.

A statue of San Francisco stands in the bottom left niche. The niche is bracketed by two estipite columns, also Churrigueresque features. The tops of the columns contain unusual figures. According to Richard Perry, angels or archangels would normally occupy these positions. Instead, "these figures appear to be Franciscan friars, holding a variety of objects...some of which may indicate martyrdom or other identifying symbols of particular individuals."

San Francisco de Assisi (1181-1226), was one of the towering figures of the Medieval Church. Although he never became a priest, he founded no less than three Holy Orders. These include the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscan Order for men), the Order of St. Clare (for women), and the Third Order of St. Francis (for lay people). He took his vows of poverty and simplicity very seriously and was so important and so venerated that Pope Gregory IX elevated him to sainthood less than two years after his death.

Cherub heads, also known as putti, sprout everywhere on the reredo. These represent yet another Churrigueresque feature. However, putti have a very long history as decorative elements. They appeared thousands of years before the Christian era and continued in popularity into the early 20th century. It is also typical of the Churrigueresqe style that, besides the numerous putti, almost every square inch of the reredo contains some decorative element.

Santa Clara de Assisi was another important Franciscan saint. Her niche is on the lower right, across from San Francisco. St. Clare (1194-1253) came from a wealthy noble family. She rejected her social position and became an early follower of Francis after hearing him preach in Assisi. Clare's devotion attracted a considerable following of women. Eventually they set themselves up in simple huts near the Church of San Damiano, which had been rebuilt by Francis from a ruined condition. 

Francis helped Clare formalize her group as the Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano (changed to the Order of St. Clare after her death). Their strict rules included going barefoot, sleeping on the ground, observing complete silence, and remaining cloistered from the world. Clare followed Francis' example of poverty and simplicity so closely that some called her alter Franciscus (another Francis). Also like Francis, Clare was canonized only two years after her death. 

An old organ stands in the choir loft at the back of the church. "Peters & Co., Scranton Pa. USA" appears above the organ's keyboard. I have been unable to locate an organ manufacturer by that name currently operating in Scranton, Pa. I therefore assume the company has gone out of business. 

Until well into the 20th century, Mexico remained a largely agricultural society. Although there was some industrialization during the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz (1876-1911), large amounts of sophisticated manufactured goods still had to be imported from the US and Europe. The imports apparently included this organ.

The elaborate wooden pulpit contained several depictions of Apostles. I have not been able to determine the identity of this one. An estipite pilaster (false pillar) stands to the right of the Apostle. On this one, there is no angel or Franciscan friar on top. The pulpit is on the side wall, about 2/3 of the way to the altar. 

Pulpits have been similarly placed in most of the Catholic churches I have visited. I have always found this arrangement oddly awkward, since the congregation would have to turn toward the side to listen to anyone speaking from the pulpit. There is probably a reason for this, but I have yet to discover it.

The Franciscan Convent

View of the convent courtyard from the roof of the church. At the time we visited in 2014, the convent was under renovation. Over the centuries, the church and its convent have been rebuilt, renovated, or repaired numerous times. In 1568, the church was rebuilt after it was destroyed by an earthquake. The doorway to the sacristy carries the date 1718, indicating additional changes. 

In 1749, another quake seriously damaged these structures. The Neo-Classic style was becoming popular during the second half of the 18th century, so it is likely that the some of the church's Neo-Classic features were added during the repairs. Quake damage, natural fires, and war destruction have wreaked havoc on Mexico's colonial architecture. Amacueca has definitely not escaped this history.

Ground-level view of the convent's courtyard. The replacement of the tiles was only about halfway complete at this time but the rest of the renovation appeared to be finished. The large square courtyard is surrounded by a walkway covered by arcades. The rooms behind the walkway served as dormitories, dining rooms, a kitchen, rooms for work and storage, and administrative offices. 

The whole structure is called a cloister and, as with most other convents, it is attached to the side a church. Because of the enclosed aspect of these religious buildings, the term "cloistered" has come to mean "cut off or removed from the world". 

Arcade along one side of the cloister. Although these walls separated the Franciscan friars from outsiders, the friars were by no means cut off from the world. The Franciscans traveled widely in their efforts to convert the native population. Although they had a head start, the Franciscans were not the only evangelical Order who devoted themselves to this task. The Dominicans arrived in 1525, the Augustinians in 1533, and the Jesuits in 1571. Other, smaller Orders came later. 

Considerable competition resulted, sometimes over practical "turf" issues, but at other times disputes were ideological. For example, the Franciscans initially opposed recognizing the Virgin of Guadalupe as a genuine apparition of the Virgin Mary. They thought the reported encounter was just a scam to enable the natives to worship Tonantzin, the pre-hispanic Earth Mother. The Dominicans and Augustinians disagreed because their support of the Virgin of Guadalupe drastically increased their conversion rates. Practicality prevailed and the Franciscans lost the argument.

A circular stove stands in the middle of the convent's kitchen. The stove was fired by wood placed in the square holes on the sides. They correspond to other square holes in the top where pots and kettles would be placed for cooking. I have seen a number of old stoves like this in the ruins of haciendas.

The convent has not functioned as such since 1799. In that year, changes in Church politics required the Franciscans to give up their control over Amacueca's religious affairs and allow the secular clergy to take over. In truth, the exciting days of mass conversions and battles against "devil worship" by the native people were long over. The times were changing. Only eleven years later, the War of Independence from Spain would begin. 

This ends Part 2 of my Amacueca series and completes 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 use the Comments section for a question, please include your email address so that I can respond.

Hasta luego, Jim