Tepoztlan, 16th Century Dominican Church of the Nativity of Our Blessed Mother

45 minutes due north from where we live is a town called Tepotzotlán, where the Jesuits established a school at the beginning of the 17th Century, and which we have written several articles, the last of which was about the marvelous exhibit on Miguel Cabrera, esrlier this year.

 

Archway leading into atrium of

La Natividad de la Virgen,

Tepoztlan

 

Today we drove 2 hours, heading in the opposite direction, due south, to a mission with a confusingly similar name, Tepoztlán, a community that was evangelized in the mid 16th century, by the Dominicans, under the leadership of Fray Domingo de la Anunciacion, who dedicated the church in the name of the Natividad de la Virgen, or Nativity of Our Blessed Virgin.

 

This is the view of the main archway entrance into

the atrium of the Navitidad de Maria Chruch, from

inside the atrium look out. Outside is the city

market.

 

The walls of the atrium still have the lookout

tower (to the right of the arch) and the defensive wall

of a medieval fortress, a common feature of 16th

monasteries and atriums.

Tepoztlán receives its name in reference to the nearby high-ridge sierra Tepozteca and its mountain-top pyramid, 44 years ago, on a weekend trip we took out of Mexico City to Cuernavaca, I saw the Tepozteco for the first time as we passed by on, and the sight was foreboding. 

The neoclassical base of the cross

was built in the 19th century, but

the atrium cross is from the 16th.

 

As you leave Mexico City from the south, there is no other option than climbing up from the borough of Tlalpan, at an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level and across the Ajusco Mountain range, past Topilejo, until you come to a point of 3,100 meters above sea level, before we start making a descent down into the central valley of Morelos, at 1,200 meters above sea level. 

Estela is in the atrium of the church,

just beneath the Cross. The arms of

the Cross end in the form of the lilies,

symbol of the purity of the Order

of Preachers as the Dominican Order

is also known, and a crown of thorns

in the center with an 8-pointed star

inside.  

 

The highway makes a severe and dangerous 180 degree turn on this descent, at a point known as "La Pera" or pear, and the Tepozteca appears abruptly, in the middle of this plain, clearly an indication of some violent movement of tectonic plates on the lithosphere, millions of years ago.  

 

 

A legend contends that the a local hero fought against a feathered serpent that swallowed our hero, knife and all. Predictably, the hero cut himself free from the bowels of the legendary monster, using an obsidian knife. 

Main Portico or entrance to the

of  the Nativity of Our

Blessed Virgin Mary, Tepoztlán,

 

The above stone door frame was designed and built by a Spanish architect and artist, Francisco Becerra, in 1565. Francisco Becerra was born in Extremadura, Spain. Becerra worked on the Church of Santo Domingo, in downtown, Mexico City, 4 blocks north of the Cathedral, but most of his work was in convents and churches in the City of Puebla, where he became the official municipal "Alarife" (word in Arabic, a term used extensively in Southern Spain, during and after its occupation by the Moors, meaning architect as well as someone in charge of the aesthetic design of a construction).

 

At the top, two angels flank an inscription that was

never written. In the center, the Blessed Virgin

Mary is flanked by Saint Dominic and Saint

Catherine of Siena

 

When we see Saint Catherine of Siena, many of us think of her, as a young girl, walking down Via del Costone, coming home from her aunt's house, with her little brother in hand, and imagine her as she has her first vision of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Father, in the sky, above the church of Santo Domingo, in Siena.

 Two Ionic columns on each side

of door frame of the Church 

 

Angel with cross on its head

supporting the column of the

stone carved frame of the main

entrance.

Angle perspective of the Church of the Nativity

of Our Blessed Mother from inside the walled

atrium.

 

One of the two best preserved

"well chapels" or "capillas de

Pozo" (This atrium still has its

four original "capillas").

All four well chapels had Gothic

ribbed vaults

Beautifully carved half Ionic Columns

flank each side of the entrance

of the corner or well chapels of the

atrium

 

This "Capilla de Pozo" or Corner Chapel of the

Atrium is on the back right hand side as we come

through the main entrance of the atrium. It is

partially in a state of ruins.

A closer view of the ribbed vault of this "Capilla

de Pozo", partially in a state of ruins. We can

barely make out that there was painting on the

walls, and possibly on the ceiling between the

ribs.

 

Ionic capital of the corner column of the "Capilla

de Pozo" in ruins stands stoically and elegantly

 the tests of time and the elements.

 

This wall is all that remains of this third "Capilla

de Pozo", which is on our right hand side as we

enter into the main gate of the atrium.

 

The fourth corner or well chapel

(captilla de pozo) of the atrium is

a unique feature of this shrine as

it also serves as an entrance chapel

to the Monastery

 

Closer look at the side entrance of this very

narrow but elegant corner and entrance chapel.

Closer view of the narrow Gothic ribbed vault of

this unique corner of well chapel. 

The Ionic columns are worse for

the weather, but still project an

elegance of age and form.

The corner or well chapel has an

empty niche which probably

occupied with a statue of Our

Lady (with its shell-formed top, a

symbol of purity), in a previous era.

 

Central nave with baptism fountain

below choir loft in foreground, and

 neoclassical altarpiece in apse,

Wall paintings on the sides of

main altar.

Gothic ribbed vault over main altar. It is not usual

to see painting on the ceilings of Gothic ribbed

vaults in Mexico, as we see here.

"This house of the Lord is firmly built" says the

inscription in Latin. Choir loft with organ (not

in use).