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