A capilla abierta ('open chapel') is considered to be one of the most distinct Mexican construction forms. [1] Mostly built in the 16th century during the early colonial period, the construction was basically an apse or open presbytery containing an altar, which opened onto a large atrium or plaza. While some state that these were constructed by friars because the native peoples of that epoch were afraid to enter the dark confines of European-style churches, the more likely reasons for their construction were that they allowed the holding of Mass for enormous numbers of people and the arrangement held similarities to the teocallis or sacred precincts of pre-Hispanic temples. [2] [3] [4] While open chapels can be found in other places in Spain and Peru, their systematic use in monasteries and other religious complexes, leading to a regularization of architectural elements, is only found in Mexico. [3] [5]
The capilla abierta was an open apse or presbytery of a reduced size, located on the ground floor or the first floor (which allowed for greater visibility) and opening onto a large atrium or plaza. The main idea is to allow the large number of people to congregate in front of a single altar. [3] In Mexico, three types of open chapels came to be used: the "salon" or "mosque" type found in Cholula and Puebla, distinguished by its front arcade with Moorish arches; the "portico" type which was a porch area in front of the cloister; and the "balcony" type, located on the upper floor or roof. Portico style chapels can be seen in Tlalmanalco, Atlatlahucan and Cempoala, with the best known of the balcony type being found in Acolman, Mexico State. [3] [4]
Almost all open chapels were part of a larger structure, whether it was the main church or the cloister of the monastery. One significant exception is the chapel in Actopan, Hidalgo. [4]
The most important feature of the open chapels was to allow the largest number of people possible to congregate in front of a single altar and have that altar visible to all. This is one reason why all capilla abiertas were built facing a large atrium or other open area. One of the most obvious features for visibility was to have the chapel located on an upper floor, such as the one located in Tlahueilpa. However, other architectural designs appear with this goal in mind. In San Juan Teposcolula, the buttresses holding up the roof were placed so that they did not block the view from any point in the atrium. [3]
In some cases, the open chapel inspired designs for covered churches. The cathedral for Pátzcuaro was conceived of by Vasco de Quiroga as a center for the main altar with five naves surrounding it, so that anyone sitting anywhere in any nave could see the altar without problems. In reality, it would be five churches facing a single altar. However, only one nave was ever built. Another interesting church design with visibility in mind is the Royal Chapel of San Gabriel de Cholula. The chapel has a square floor plan with seven naves with seven sections each, separated by octagonal pillars. The inspiration for this design is the Islamic mosque. This design was also used at the Church of San Francisco de los Naturales in San Francisco de Mexico, which has since been destroyed. This same need may have also been the reason behind the later construction of single-nave churches with no side chapels later in the colonial period. [3]
The open chapel was predominantly used during the very early colonial period (16th century) in central Mexico, then called New Spain. Several examples appear in Cuzco, Peru, at the churches of Santo Domingo, La Merced and San Jeronimo, but their systematic appearance and regularization of appearance appears only in Mexico. [3] [5]
Some sources state that the capilla abiertas were constructed because the native populations in the 16th century were too afraid to enter the dark confines of European style churches. [2] However, a number of these chapels predate their traditional church counterparts, sometimes by decades or more. [1] [6] [7] The most likely reason for their construction was the fact that in the early colonial period, there was an enormous number of indigenous people and few friars and priests to evangelize and say Mass. The need for these chapels is mentioned by Toribio de Benavente who writes that they are needed along with large atriums to hold numbers of people who could not fit inside the church on Sundays and during festivals. During the slow times, such as mid-week, the main church was used. [3] Another advantage the open chapel/atrium arrangement afforded was that it had similarities to the old teocallis, or sacred precincts of pre-Hispanic temples. [4]
The idea of an open chapel to serve multitudes was not completely new, as there are precedents on the Iberian peninsula. Chapels with altars were constructed in loggias in Spain so that on feast and market days all could attend Mass. What was new was its systematic use leading to a type of regularized architecture for this type of construction and its integration into monasteries and other religious complexes. [3]
The chapels represent one of the first steps of the cultural integration after the Spanish Conquest. As the seat of his dominions, Hernán Cortés chose Cuernavaca. Immediately he initiated the construction of a palace over an old tribute collection center and nearby the construction of a church with an open chapel. The open chapel of San Jose is located next to the Cuernavaca Cathedral. This chapel originally was much bigger than what remains today. The open chapel here was used not only for Mass but also for plays, music, dance and other events designed to explain and reinforce the faith. [5]
The open chapel is considered to be one of the most unusual construction types from Mexico in world architecture. [1] Most open chapels were built in what are now the central highlands of Mexico in states such as the State of Mexico, Puebla and Tlaxcala; however, some examples can be found in areas as far south as the Yucatan Peninsula. [5]
The capilla abierta of Tlalmanalco was constructed by the Franciscans between 1585 and 1591. This chapel was never finished, but is primarily Plateresque with Romance and Gothic elements. It also presents indigenous elements in the decoration, which was done by native craftsmen. The images in the decoration depict the battle between good and evil, represented by monkeys, lions, angels and cherubs. There are also faces of the devil with horns. The chapel was declared a colonial monument in 1936. [8]
The capilla abierta of Coixtlahuaca is adjacent to the Church of San Juan Bautista, in San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, Oaxaca. It is square with a trapezoid apse covered by a ribbed vault. To the right of the chapel is a kind of a sacristy with had a flat, wood-bean roof, since disappeared. On that roof was a choir with views of the open chapel from its balcony. Some of the decorative work included friezes of dragon heads and pelicans. This chapel was formally called the “Chapel of the Indians” and believed to have been built before the main church. Today it lies in ruins and has not been restored. [6]
The capilla abierta of Teposcolula, one of the biggest open chapels, is a variant of the portico type but slightly more complicated. It is formed by two naves covered by wood which separate an arcade with five arches. The outer nave is open to the atrium. In the center, was the space for the altar covered by an octagonal groin vault. It is similar to a multi-naved church. [3]
In Tizatlan, Tlaxcala, the capilla abierta was constructed very similarly to the pre-Hispanic altars with paintings. The main church was not built until the 17th century and the open chapel was incorporated as the apse. [7] The former monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion, now the Cathedral of Tlaxcala has two atriums. The more elevated one has a belltower with an open chapel in which one of the first plays in Nahuatl directed by the friars was performed. [1]
One of the most-visited historic monuments in the State of Mexico is the open chapel of Calimaya. This chapel was constructed in 1529 by the Franciscans for evangelization purposes. The construction has three main parts: the chapel with six arches, the apse with an altar from the 16th century, and the baptistery. The altar is referred to as the “Señor del Cuerito” for the oil painting of Christ to which has been attributed a significant number of miracles. This is one of the first evangelization centers in Mexico. [9]
In the Yucatan Peninsula, two examples of capilla abiertas can be found in the former Mayan cities of Dzibilchaltun and Oxtancah. Dzibilchaltun is located near Mérida and has a pyramid known as the Temple of the Seven Dolls (Templo de las Siete Muñecas) which is located near a natural water well. Between this well and the pyramid was constructed an open chapel, breaking the trajectory between the pyramid and the once-sacred well. Oxtancah is located near Chetumal. Here conquistador Alonso de Avila constructed an open chapel over one of the Mayan temples. One of the walls contains the images of three Spanish style ships from that era. Due to strong native resistance, this early Spanish settlement only lasted a few years, but the chapel remains. [5]
Tlaxcala, officially Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl, is the capital city and of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala and seat of the municipality of the same name. The city did not exist during the pre-Hispanic period but was laid out by the Spanish as a center of evangelization and governance after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The city was designated as a diocese but eventually lost that status to Puebla as its population declined. The city still has many of its old colonial structures, including the former Franciscan monastery, and newer civic structures like the Xicohtencatl Theatre.
Tlayacapan is the name of a town and a municipality located in the northeast part of Morelos state in central Mexico. It is located 60 km east from the state capital of Cuernavaca and about 1.5 hours south of Mexico City. It is a rural area, whose way of life has not changed much over the 20th century, with 90% of its population still partially or fully dependent on agriculture. The town has old mansions, houses with red tile roofs and streets paved with stones. Many ravines crisscross the area and are crossed by numerous stone bridges.
Yecapixtla is a town and municipality located in the northeast of the state of Morelos in central Mexico. Yecapixtla means, Land of men and women with sharp noses. The town is home to one of the monastery complexes associated with the Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatépetl World Heritage Site. Yecapixtla is famously known for its tasty, high-quality beef, cecina.
Huamantla is a small city in the municipality of the same name in the eastern half of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. The area has a long indigenous history, but the city itself was not founded until the early colonial period, in the 1530s. It is mostly agricultural but it is best known for its annual homage to an image of the Virgin Mary called Our Lady of Charity. This includes a month of festivities, the best known of which are the “night no one sleeps” when residents create six km of “carpets” on the streets made from colored sawdust, flowers and other materials. The other is the “Huamantlada” a running of the bulls similar to that in Pamplona.
The Franciscan missions of the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro are five missions built in Mexico between 1750 and 1760. The foundation of the missions is attributed to Junípero Serra, who also founded the most important missions in California. They were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003.
The Earliest Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl are sixteen earliest 16th-century monasteries which were built by the Augustinians, the Franciscans and the Dominicans in order to evangelize the areas south and east of the Popocatépetl volcano in central Mexico. These monasteries were recognized by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites in 1994, because they served as the model for the early monastery and church buildings as well as evangelization efforts in New Spain and some points beyond in Latin America. These monasteries almost uniformly feature a very large atrium in front of a single nave church with a capilla abierta or open chapel. The atrium functioned as the meeting point between the indigenous peoples and the missionary friars, with mass for the newly converted held outdoors instead of within the church. This arrangement can be found repeated in other areas of Mexico as these friars continued to branch out over New Spain.
Tlalmanalco is a municipality located in the far south-eastern part of the State of Mexico. The municipal seat and second largest town in the municipality is the town of Tlalmanalco de Velázquez The name is from the Nahuatl language, meaning “flat area.” The municipality's seal shows flat land, with a pyramid on it, representing its pre-Hispanic history, surrounded by small mountains, which is how the area was represented in Aztec codices. The municipality is bordered by the municipalities of Chalco, Ixtapaluca, Cocotitlan, Temamatla, Tenango del Aire, Ayapango and Amecameca. It also shares a border with the neighboring state of Puebla. Much of the municipality borders the Iztaccihuatl-Popocatepetl National Park. For this reason, Iztaccihuatl volcano dominates the landscape. The town has been designated as a “Pueblo con Encanto” by the government of the State of Mexico.
Calimaya is a town and municipality located just south of Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico in central Mexico. The settlement was probably established around 800 BCE, when the city of Teotenango was in existence. It remained an important town through the colonial period, part of the vast lands held by a family which came to be known as the Counts of Calimaya. The town is home to one of the oldest examples of an open chapel in the State of Mexico. Today, the municipality is still mostly agricultural but there has been a rapid construction of housing divisions, changing parts of it from rural to suburban.
Ozumba is one of 125 municipalities in the State of Mexico. Its municipal seat is the town of Ozumba de Alzate. It is located in the southeast portion of the Valley of Mexico, 70 km southeast of Mexico City near the Mexico City-Cuautla highway. The main feature of this area is the Parish of the Immaculate Conception which began as a Franciscan monastery in the 16th century. The entrance to the cloister area contains murals related to the early evangelization efforts of this order. They include scenes such as Hernán Cortés greeting the first Franciscan missionaries in Mexico, the martyrdom of some of the first young converts to Christianity and even a scene where the monks are flogging Cortés. The church itself inside has suffered the theft of a number of its antique pieces. The name Ozumba comes from Nahuatl meaning "over the streams of water". "de Alzate" was added to the formal name in honor of the scientist José Antonio Alzate y Ramirez Santillana who was born here.
Huejotzingo is a small city and municipality located just northwest of the city of Puebla, in central Mexico. The settlement's history dates back to the pre-Hispanic period, when it was a dominion, with its capital a short distance from where the modern settlement is today. Modern Huejotzingo is located where a Franciscan monastery was founded in 1525, and in 1529, the monks moved the indigenous population of Huejotzingo to live around the monastery. Today, Huejotzingo is known for the production of alcoholic apple cider and fruit preserves, as well as its annual carnival. This carnival is distinct as it centers on the re-enactment of several historical and legendary events related to the area. The largest of these is related to the Battle of Puebla, with about 2, 000 residents representing French and Mexican forces that engage in mock battles over four days.
San Andrés Cholula is a municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla in south-eastern Mexico. It forms part of the Metropolitan area of Puebla, and as of 2011, it is the fastest-growing municipality that conforms the Metropolitan Area, partly because the presence of universities and the wealthiest neighborhoods are located in San Andrés Cholula. Along with San Pedro Cholula and Santa Isabel Cholula, it conforms the most ancient still inhabited city in the Americas, Cholula de Rivadabia.
San Pedro Cholula is a municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla and one of two municipalities which made up the city of Cholula. The city has been divided into two sections since the pre Hispanic era, when revolting Toltec-Chichimecas pushed the formerly dominant Olmec-Xicallanca to the eastern side of the city in the 13th century. The new lords called themselves Cholutecas and built a new temple to Quetzalcoatl on the San Pedro side, which eventually eclipsed the formerly prominent Great Pyramid of Cholula, now on the San Andrés side. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the city of Cholula was an important religious and economic center, but the center of power was on the San Pedro side, centered on what is now the main city plaza and the San Gabriel monastery. The division of the city persisted and San Pedro remained the more dominant, with Spanish families moving onto that side and the rest of the population quickly becoming mestizo. Today, San Pedro is still more commercial and less residential than neighboring San Andrés with most of its population employed in industry, commerce and services rather than agriculture. Although Cholula's main tourist attraction, the Pyramid, is in San Andrés, San Pedro has more tourism infrastructure such as hotels, restaurants and bars.
The Sanctuary of Atotonilco is a church complex and part of a World Heritage Site, designated along with nearby San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. The complex was built in the 18th century by Father Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro, who, according to tradition, was called upon by a vision of Jesus with a crown of thorns on his head with blood on his face and carrying a cross. The main feature of the complex is the rich Mexican Baroque mural work that adorns the main nave and chapels. This was chiefly the work of Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre over a period of thirty years. The mural work has led the complex to be dubbed the "Sistine Chapel of Mexico." The complex remains a place of worship and penance to this day, attracting as many as 5,000 visitors every week.
The Cuernavaca Cathedral is the Roman Catholic church of the Diocese of Cuernavaca, located in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. The church and its surrounding monastery is one of the early 16th century monasteries in the vicinity of the Popocatepetl volcano inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, built initially for evangelization efforts of indigenous people after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. By the 18th century, the church of the monastery began to function as the parish church of the city and in the late 19th century, it was elevated to the rank of a cathedral. Unlike many cathedrals in Mexico, this one does not face the city's main square, but rather is located just to the south, in its own walled compound, which it shares with a number of other structures. Unlike the other monastery structures from its time, the importance of this church provoked a number of renovation projects, the last of which occurred in 1957. This one took out the remaining older decorations of the interior and replaced them with simple modern ones. This renovation work also uncovered a 17th-century mural that covers 400 square metres (4,300 sq ft) of the interior walls and narrates the story of Philip of Jesus and twenty three other missionaries who were crucified in Japan.
San Bernardino de Siena Church is the parish church of the borough of Xochimilco in Mexico City. The church and former monastery complex was built in the 16th century over a former pre-Hispanic temple as part of evangelization efforts after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. Since its construction, it has been the center of much of Xochimilco’s history and social life, including ceremonies related to is famous image of the Child Jesus called the Niñopa. The interior of the church contains a rare 16th-century altarpiece in Plateresque style with no columns or other supports. The only other altarpiece like it is in Huejotzingo, Puebla.
The Church and Convent of San Nicolás de Tolentino is the Catholic church and parish house of the people of Actopan. It has always belonged to the Diocese of Tulancingo in Mexico. This church is located in the center of city. This colonial building is a monument of great architectural importance which has lasted until today in the State of Hidalgo.
Church of San Francisco Acatepec is a colonial religious building, characteristic of the Mexican Baroque architecture, especially recognized for its facade of Talavera mosaics combined with red brick. It is located in the town of San Francisco Acatepec in San Andrés Cholula, Metropolitan area of Puebla, in the state of Puebla, Mexico, and it was one of the first churches founded in the region.
The San Gabriel Franciscan Convent or San Gabriel Friary is a church and friary in Cholula, Metropolitan area of Puebla City, Mexico.
Mendicant monasteries in Mexico were one of the architectural solutions devised by the friars of the mendicant orders in the 16th century to the evangelization in the New Spain. The religious function of these buildings was thought for an enormous number of Amerindian indigenous people to evangelize although soon, due to the policy of reduction, the whole became the social center of the pueblos de indios, transmitting to them the civil modes of the West, Castilian, various arts and crafts, health, and even funeral services.
An atrial cross is a large cross placed in the capilla abierta, atrium, or large open space in front of Mexican church buildings. Most from recent centuries are in stone, with extensive ornamental carving in relief. They are a distinctive element of religious architecture in Mexico.
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