Templo de Nuestra Señora de Balvanera DF 2

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Valvanera (also Maronite Cathedral of Our Lady of Valvanera sometimes spelled Balvanera, es, Catedral Maronita de Nuestra Señora de Valvanera) is located southeast of the main plaza, or Zocalo, of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

on the corner of Correo Mayor and República de Uruguay in the historic center. The church originally belonged to the Convent of Santo Niño Perdido which was founded in 1573. This would then become a Conceptionist convent in the 17th century, when the church and convent were rebuilt in 1667. It also gained its current name at that time. Due to the

Reform Laws The Reform War, or War of Reform ( es, Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Tres Años), was a civil war in Mexico lasting from January 11, 1858 to January 11, 1861, fought between liberals and conservativ ...

in 1861, the nuns were required to vacate the convent portion and the cloister and other buildings associated with the church were demolished. Its main altar was nearly destroyed during the political struggles of the 19th century but the oil of the Black Virgin of Valvanera (or Balvanera) remains. This church was declared a historic monument on August 30, 1932. atálogo nacional de monumentos históricos inmuebles Centro Histórico (Perímetro A) Tomo III, D.F. México: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. 1992. p. 1400./ref> Nowadays this church is the cathedral of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of the Martyrs of Lebanon in Mexico. The church is of Baroque style with its main entrance at the side of the church, as was common with convents in Mexico. The bell tower is covered in tile from Puebla. Only this church and the church of La Encarnación have Puebla tile on the bell towers. The church facade is of

tezontle Tezontle ( es, tezontle) is a porous, highly oxidized, volcanic rock used extensively in construction in Mexico. It is usually reddish in color due to iron oxide. Tezontle is a well-cemented, agglomeritic and scoriaceous rock. Uses Construction ...

divided by five

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 and topped by an entablature with a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

with anagrams of the names of Jesus and Mary. Both portals have two levels of decoration on them. Inside, the main altar is Neoclassical and made of stone. The oil of Nuestra Señora de Balvanera is from the 17th century. It and the sculptures here were donated by a Maronite church. The sacristy has paintings by Carlos Clemente Lopez that date from 1750.

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* http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/northamerica/4852.htm Arab Mexican Churches in Mexico City Eastern Catholic cathedrals in Mexico Historic center of Mexico City Maronite cathedrals Lebanese Mexican 1573 establishments in New Spain Roman Catholic churches completed in 1667 Spanish Colonial architecture in Mexico Baroque church buildings in Mexico 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Mexico {{EasternCatholic-church-stub

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