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.
The buildings were based on
architectural style
An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...
s that were already in disuse for the time, such as
Romanesque and
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
, and on the European monastic model – essentially on the
Cluny Abbey – but they added innovative elements such as the
atrial cross and the
capilla abierta
A capilla abierta or “open chapel” is considered to be one of the most distinct Mexican construction forms. Mostly built in the 16th century during the early colonial period, the construction was basically an apse or open presbytery containi ...
, as well as being characterized by various decorative currents and a strong appearance as
fortresses
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
. Within these buildings, distributed in the center of modern Mexico, is found an art originated both in stone carving and in pictorial decoration: the ''tequitqui'' or
Indochristian art, a kind of style made by the indigenous people who made art in the buildings based on European patterns and directed by the friars.
Ideological inspirations
The mendicant friars expressed in its buildings by means of architectural, sculptural and painterly desires -based on
millennialism, the
joachinism and in the
counter-reformation, expressing with influences that are distant in time and space, the will of the refoundation of the church in the New World.
[For example, the French researcher Georges Baudot has cited the importance that the millenarianism of the teachings of the heretic ]Joachim of Fiore
Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore (c. 1135 – 30 March 1202), was an Italian Christian theologian, Catholic abbot, and the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. According to th ...
had in the Franciscans, reaching the point of planning a possible autonomy of Rome through the foundation of a new church. Baudot, Georges. "La experiencia franciscana en México". Mexico, Conaculta, 1990, Los Noventas collection. Entrusted with the task of evangelization of the newly conquered Mesoamerican Indians, the friars created with the whole monastery a sum of didactic and symbolic elements, with iconographic programs and diverse elements that condensed the beliefs accumulated by mendicant experience in similar tasks in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, Asia and Africa.
The monastic buildings in all their elements included a voluntarily
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
load and ancient appearance (archaizing), using their builders influences used several centuries earlier in Europe, but with 16th century techniques.
Romanesque elements
* The dimension of the naves
* The thickness of the walls
* The use of
buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...
es,
flying buttress
The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...
es, rounded arches
* Use of
bell-gables serving as bell towers
* Sculptures on facades
* Barrel vaults made of stone
Gothic elements
* Ascentional direction
* Decorative
rib vaults rather than functional or supporting
*
Rose windows of stone. Example is preserved in
Yecapixtla
Yecapixtla ( nah, Yecapixtlān ) 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 associa ...
,
Morelos.
* Pointed arches
* Segmental arches type
basket arch in the cloisters, mainly.
Mudéjar elements
* Decoration with
yeseria
Stucco decoration in Islamic architecture refers to carved or molded stucco and plaster. The terms "stucco" and "plaster" are used almost interchangeably in this context to denote most types of stucco or plaster decoration with slightly varying c ...
s
* Use of
alfarje
''Alfarje'' (meaning "paneled ceiling" in Spanish) is a type of horizontal wooden ceiling primarily found in Islamic (or Moorish) architecture and Mudéjar architecture. The word derives from Andalusi Arabic ''al-farsh'', meaning "bed", relate ...
s
* Spaces with arcades. An example is the chapel of
San Gabriel Franciscan Convent, Cholula
The San Gabriel Franciscan Convent or San Gabriel Friary is a church and friary in Cholula, Puebla, Cholula, Metropolitan area of Puebla (city), Puebla City, Mexico.
Description and history
The San Gabriel church and friary was established in 152 ...
The mendicant buildings of the 16th century have a similar distribution in their basic elements to the European monasteries, as well as in their decoration and constructive characteristics when they are built under the direction of the friars themselves with manuals of the Old World. Its builders kept symmetries and measures that imitated in an archaic way the scheme of the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery of the 4th century, which had the same stereotomy of warlike inspiration, with thick walls and
buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...
es, significant height with an ascensional direction and
merlon
A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...
s, among other elements, similar to the Europeans who constituted military strongholds against
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
or
Saracens.
Architectural structure
The construction and arrangement of the buildings was carried out with the intention of returning to the primitive church, with solutions and spaces designed to keep the ''regula'' of
St. Benedict of Nursia.
Atrium
The
atrium
Atrium may refer to:
Anatomy
* Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart
* Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods
* Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain
* Pulmona ...
was a unique solution in New Spain as a characteristic devised by the friars when occupied as massive squares for the celebration of mass, although with the passage of time as shown by priest
Diego de Valadés in his ''Rhetorica christiana'', the atrium became the main space of the social life of the indigenous as it was the main space of reproduction of Western civilization. There, European arts and crafts, Spanish language and religious and civil precepts were taught.
The primary function of the atrium was to carry out every kind of religious celebration in addition to the mass, such as processions and theatrical performances that the indigenous people liked (edifying theatre) as a didactic form of teaching. The indigenous peoples accepted the holding of mass outdoor ceremonies, since Mesoamerica was a common practice.
Atrial cross
At the central point of the atrium and as a symbolic and geographical place of the foundation of the town, a stone cross was placed on a base. The elements contained in it were attributes of
Passion of Jesus
In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ.
Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...
.
Wall in the atrium
The atrial space was delimited by an atrial wall, which also coincided as reminiscence of the ''
coatepantli
Coatepantli is a Nahuatl word meaning "wall of serpents". It comes from the words ''coatl'' meaning serpent and ''tepantli'' meaning wall. It is an architectural motifLeonardo López Luján, Alfredo López Austin"El coatepantli de Tenochtitlan. H ...
s'' of the ceremonial centers of the Mesoamerican peoples. It was usually decorated with almenados and finely decorated finishes. Only in the case of the atrium of Molango, Puebla, was a spadaña exempt from the Temple placed in the atrial fence.
Processional path
One of the most recurrent resources was the mass processions. Its route was delimited on the perimeter of the atrial wall with shrubs, small walls or trees.
Capilla posa
On the four corners of the atrium were built four chapels -an original feature of New Spain- vaulted and decorated and which had the function of posing or resting the Blessed Sacrament in the processions made after mass. These were assigned to the care of each of the neighborhoods of the towns, so they have also been called "capillas de comunidad" or "capillas de indios". They include
Huejotzingo and
Calpan in
Puebla.
Church
In many populations of present-day Mexico, churches of the sixteenth century exist with identifiable architectural characteristics and rising because of their height above the populations in which they settle, since several of them were built on Mesoamerican
teocalli
A ''teocalli'' ( Nahuatl: "God-house") is a Mesoamerican pyramid surmounted by a temple. The pyramid is terraced, and some of the most important religious rituals in Pre-Columbian Mexico took place in the temple at the top of the pyramid.
The famo ...
s (as in
Texcoco,
Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...
,
Huejotzingo,
Cholula,
Tula and
Huexotla
Texcoco de Mora () is a city located in the State of Mexico, 25 km northeast of Mexico City. Texcoco de Mora is the municipal seat of the municipality of Texcoco. In the pre-Hispanic era, this was a major Aztec city on the shores of Lak ...
) in order to "disintegrate more the old way of life and sustenance a cult over the other".
It is remarkable in all the monasteries erect impregnable in populations that currently have few inhabitants, but centuries ago they were important centers of population; this effect was achieved with the ascensional direction of its walls and the thickness of them, as well as the use of flying buttresses, buttresses and a plant originally of rasa
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
.
Nave
Although many monasteries have been modified by the addition of bell towers, side naves or plant of a Latin cross during colonial times in later centuries, the majority were built with a single nave and a rectangular, slightly trapezoidal in the apse, with a roof of palm or
artesonado Artesonado or Spanish ceiling is a term for coffer "a type of intricately joined wooden ceiling in which supplementary laths are interlaced into the rafters supporting the roof to form decorative geometric patterns", found in Spanish architecture. I ...
, which was replaced by arched stone barrel vault ornamented with ribs attached (gothic, without any structural function, and voluntarily archaic).
Monasteries by state
State of Mexico
*
Church and Convent of San Agustín, Acolman
Hidalgo
See:
Mendicant monasteries of Hidalgo
Michoacán
See:
Conventual Missions of Michoacán
Morelos
*
Yecapixtla
Yecapixtla ( nah, Yecapixtlān ) 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 associa ...
*
Cathedral of Cuernavaca
*
Ocuituco
Ocuituco is a town in the Mexican state of Morelos and the municipal head for the Municipality of Ocuituco which includes the towns of Ocuituco, Huejotengo, Huecahuaxco, Huepalcalco, Metepec, and Ocoxaltepec, as well as a number of settlements wi ...
*
Tepoztlán
Tepoztlán () is a town in the central Mexican state of Morelos. It is located at in the heart of the Tepoztlán Valley. The town serves as the seat of government for the municipality of the same name. The town had a population of 14,130 inhabit ...
*
Tetela del Volcán
Tetela del Volcán or simply Tetela, is a town and municipal seat of the municipality of Tetela del Volcán in the Mexican state of Morelos. It is located on the slopes of the volcano Popocatépetl. .
The city serves as the municipal seat for the ...
(franciscan)
*
Oaxtepec
Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby Mexico City, and the town poss ...
(franciscan)
*
Atlatlahucan
Atlatlahucan (from the Nahuatl word ) is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. The name means ''Place of red or brown water'', and today the water is stored in a type of cistern called a ''jagüey''. To the north is the State of Mexico, south ...
*
Jiutepec
Jiutepec is a city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Morelos.
The name ''Jiutepec'' comes from the Nahuatl name ''Xiutepetl'', which means "the precious stones hill".
The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrou ...
*
Ocotepec
*
Yautepec
*
Hueyapan
San Andrés Hueyapan is a small town in the rural northeastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos, formerly in the municipality of Tetela del Volcán. It lies at an elevation of ca 2000–2500 metres above sea level on the southern slopes of t ...
*
Tlatizapan
*
Tlaquitenango
*
Tlayacapan
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 are ...
*
Totolapan
Totolapan is a municipality in the north of the Mexican state of Morelos, surrounded by the State of Mexico to the north; to the south with Tlayacapan and Atlatlahucan; to the east and southeast with Atlatlahucan; and to the west with Tlaln ...
*
Tlanepantla
*
Pazulco
*
Jonacatepec
Jonacatepec de Leondro Valle is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality reported 15,690 inhabitants in the year 2015 census.
The name ''Jo ...
*
Zacualpan
*
Jantetelco
Jantetelco, officially Jantetelco de Matamoros, is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos.
. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality reported 17,238 inhabitants in the year 2015 ce ...
*
Jumiltepec
Oaxaca
Dominicans:
*
San Miguel Achiutla
San Miguel Achiutla is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 59.97 km².
It is part of the Tlaxiaco District
Tlaxiaco District is located in the south of the Mixteca Region of the State of ...
*
Coixtlahuaca
Coixtlahuaca ( Chocho: ''Nguichee;'' Mixtec: ''Yodzocoo;'' Nahuatl: ''Coaixtlahuacan'') was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican state in the Mixteca Alta (now in Oaxaca, Mexico). Coixtlahuaca was a multi-ethnic polity, inhabited by both Chochos and ...
*
Cuilapan de Guerrero
* Coatlán
*
Etla
*
Ixtepexi
*
Nejapa
Nejapa is a municipality in the San Salvador department of El Salvador.
Traditions Las Bolas De Fuego
One of the major traditions of Nejapa is ''Las Bolas De Fuego'' ("Balls of Fire"), celebrated August 31st. The celebration has two origins, ...
*
Ocotlán de Morelos
*
Tonalá
*
Santo Tomás Tamazulapan
*
San Juan Teposcolula
*
Tecomaxtlahuaca
*
Tlaxiaco
Tlaxiaco is a city, and its surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region, with a population of about 17,450.
The city is formally known as He ...
*
Totontepec Villa de Morelos
*
Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán
Puebla
*
Huejotzingo
*
Calpan
*
Cholula
*
Molango
*
Huauchinango
Querétaro
See:
Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
Tlaxcala
See:
Mendicant monasteries of Tlaxcala
Contemporary studies
The
historiography
Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
on the subject -art historian
Manuel Toussaint being the first to call it that- has called them "convents-fortress", due to the recitation and elements of military inspiration with which they were built. The main scholar of these buildings,
George Kubler
George Alexander Kubler (26 July 1912 - 3 October 1996) was an American art historian and among the foremost scholars on the art of Pre-Columbian America and Ibero-American Art.
Biography
Kubler was born in Hollywood, California, but most of h ...
, cited in his ''Mexican architecture of the sixteenth century'' the military futility in the event of a possible Indigenous attack, which occurred in
Xilitla
Xilitla is a municipality ( es, municipio) and town in the state of San Luis Potosí in the Huasteca region of Mexico. The town is located at The municipality has an area of and had a population of 51,498 in 2010 of whom 6,576 lived in town of ...
, San Luis Potosí, in 1548. The historian Arturo Schroeder Cordero
[Schroeder Cordero, Arturo. "Las funciones del atrio conventual mexicano", in ''Conferencias del bicentenario de la fundación de la Escuela de Pintura, Escultura y Arquitectura''. Mexico, UNAM-Faculty of Architecture, 1984.] stressed its importance against other architectural solutions such as
skyscrapers.
See also
*
Indochristian art
References
{{Spanish Colonial architecture
Monasteries in Mexico
Mendicant orders
16th-century architecture
Spanish missions in North America