Sierra Gorda Part 10: Misión San Francisco de Tilaco (Atrium and Facade)

Carole stands at the atrium gate of Mission San Francisco de Tilaco. Through the gate, you can see the facade and bell tower of the church. The mission's cloister is attached to the right side of the church and is  partially visible through the bars of the gate. In this posting, I'll show you the atrium and the exterior of the church, including the facade, dome and tower. In the next posting, I'll cover the interior of the church and the cloister. 

This is the best preserved of the five missions in the Sierra Gorda. In the 1980s, officials of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) stumbled upon one of the missions while lost on the Sierra Gorda's back roads. While Tilaco's mission was in fairly good shape, the effects of war, vandalism, and abandonment had caused significant deterioration to the others. INAH decided to restore all of them to their former glory and this was finally completed in 2002. The following year, the five missions were collectively declared a World Heritage Site.

Overview

Google satellite route from Jalpan de Serra to Tilaco. Head east on Highway 120 until you reach the town of La Lagunita. Turn right at the corner with an optician's shop called Optica Quero Lentes. Follow this road approximately 25 km (16 mi) to Tilaco. This beautiful drive will take you through the mountains to a broad valley. Across it, you will see the steeple of the mission church in the distance. For directions to Jalpan de Serra from from the Lago de Chapala- Guadalajara area,  please refer to  Part 1 of this series. For an interactive Google map, click here.

A Franciscan friar named Juan Crespi directed the building of the mission. He is shown above, holding a cross, with three other friars standing reverently to his left. On his right are three indigenous men, burdened with heavy packs and eyeing Crespi with considerable skepticism. He was a close associate of Junipero Serra, the leader of the Sierra Gorda's Franciscans. Serra was the over-all supervisor when the five missions were built. While Crespi was the on-site director of construction at Tilaco from 1754 and 1762, local Pame craftsmen and laborers did the actual work 

Like Serra, Juan Crespi was born on the island of Majorca, Spain. Also like him, Crespi joined the Franciscan Order at age 17. Serra  taught philosophy at Majorica's Universidad de Palma and Crespi was one of his students. He decided to travel with Serra to Nueva España (Mexico) as a missionary and was with Serra's expedition to the Sierra Gorda in 1750. Crespi later joined Serra's 1770 expedition to take over the former Jesuit missions in Baja California and to establish new missions in Alta California. Crespi is famous for being one of the first explorers of the area around the current city of San Francisco.

Mission San Francisco viewed from across the valley. I took this shot with my telephoto, so the mission was a lot further away than it appears here. The town of Tilaco surrounds the church, but is almost invisible through all the trees. Unlike the other missions, which were built on flat ground, this one was constructed on the sloping foothills of a mountain. Its position provides a spectacular view of the valley below it and the surrounding mountains.

Both the dome of the church and its small cupola are octagonal. Eight round windows provide light to the interior of the church. The dome covers the center of the transept, which is the area just in front of the main altar where the nave and the transept cross. As you can see, the day was cloudy and constantly threatening to rain, so some of my photos are a bit darker than I would have liked.

The bell tower is topped by three highly decorated levels.The lowest level has openings for four large bells, which are rung by ropes like the one you can see hanging down. The second and third levels are hexagonal, so they could theoretically contain six bells each. However, there were no bells in the openings, at least that I could see. 

The first and second levels have niches for statues, but none were filled that I could see. The statues may have been stolen or destroyed during the Revolution or the Cristero War that followed soon after. The upright structures on each corner of the first two levels are called finials. The niches on the first level have spiraling  Solomonic columns , while those on the upper levels are straight. 

Atrium and Wells

The atrium is surrounded by a low, crenellated wall . There are three gates, one on either side and one in the front. The front gate seen above is the main one and it opens out to a small but attractive plaza under some trees. The small, domed structures at the two corners are called posas. While the Spanish word posa refers to a form of Spanish colonial religious architecture. In the distance, you can see the mountains from which I took my telephoto shot of the mission.

View of the atrial cross, a posa, and the main gate. Posas were constructed for use during ceremonial processions around the atrium and are among various Spanish colonial religious structures that are unique to this period. Atriums were particularly important in the early days of evangelization, when they were used for mass conversions because there were far too many native people to fit inside the early churches. In fact, they were more accustomed to worshiping that way. In pre-hispanic times, the common people had gathered for religious ceremonies in the open and only those of the elite class were allowed inside temples. 

View down the walkway that connects the two posas .  Statues of the Virgin or the saint to which a church is dedicated will often be paraded from place to place in an atrium. During the processions, stops are made at the posas so that rituals can be conducted. In the background, dark rain clouds gather over the mountains. Although a storm constantly threatened, eventually the day ended sunny.

Facade

Tilaco's facade is less elaborate than that of the Landa mission, but is still complex. While Landa (see Part 9) has thirteen niches with statues, this facade contains only five. Some of the statues and other decorative features are similar, but there are also some differences. For example, the ground-level statues on either side of the entrance above closely resemble those at Landa representing St. Peter and St. Paul. However, the Tilaco facade's three other statues are different than those appearing on the Landa facade.

The second level of the facade is the most complex . In the center is the choir window, surrounded by four cherubs. The two above hold open some drapes while the lower two are grasping branches of vegetation. Below the choir window is the coat-of-arms of the Franciscans, showing the crossed arms of St. Francis and Jesus. The hands are each nailed to a cross. Framing the choir window are two stipite columns, each supported at the bottom by a seated mermaid with upraised arms. Finally, there is a niche on either side containing statues. The next two photos will take a closer look at these niches.

The Virgin Mary occupies the left-hand niche . It is not clear which of the many versions of Mary this represents. She stands with both hands pressed against her right breast, with her face turned reverently upward. At her feet are three cherub heads. The columns on either side burst with vegetation. At their bottoms are two heads, probably male, wearing elaborate collars around their necks. In this close-up shot, you can see the screen installed to protect the sculptures from bird damage.

The right-hand niche contains a statue of Mary's husband, St. Joseph. He holds Jesus in his left hand. Statues of Joseph often show him with his son. Like any other baby would, this one appears to be clutching his father's beard. However, Joseph is dressed rather more elaborately than one would expect of a simple carpenter in ancient Palestine. The stipite columns on either side contain heads at their bottoms which are similar to those by Mary's niche. However, these are clearly male and wear hairstyles popular among men in the 18th century.

Decorations on the left side of the facade's top level. There are nearly identical decorations on the right side. In the upper left is a seated angel who supports part of the structure with his upturned right arm. Below where he sits, an eagle or hawk spreads its wings and looks to the right. A profusion of flowering vines covers much of the remaining space. 

The topmost niche contains a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Order. Cradled in his left hand is a skull, representing death. Francis often contemplated death because of his failing health. On the left side, an angel strums a guitar, while the one on the right plays a violin. Above St. Francis are two cherubs, while below is a head with a woman's face, framed by wings. On either side of the niche are Solomonic columns. 

This completes Part 10 of my Sierra Gorda series. In the next part, we will take a look at the Tilaco church's interior and the attached cloister where the friars lived and worked. I hope you enjoyed this posting. 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.

See you later, Jim