The Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan ( es, Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Zapopan) and the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

Our lady of zapopan Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

of Zapopan are a 17th-century

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

sanctuary built in downtown

Zapopan Zapopan () is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, the population of Zapopan city proper makes it the second largest city in the state, very close behind the population of ...

, in the state of

Jalisco Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...

México Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is one of the most visited sanctuaries in Western Mexico, and it preserves a wooden Virgin that is considered a valuable relic of medieval origin, which came from Spain to New Galicia in the 16th century.Refugio de Palacio Basave, Fray Luis Del, Breve Historia de Nuestra Señora de Zapopán The Huichol Museum is located in the building.

Catholic affiliations

The church complex belongs to the Franciscan province of Sts. Francis and James (''Francisco y Santiago''), that includes

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

, and

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

. Affiliated with the church is a retirement home of the ''Valle de la Misericordia'' (Valley of Mercy). The abbey is made up of members of the

Order of Friars Minor, though it is also used by the Capuchin, Third order, Society of Saint Francis, the Clarisse, and

sisters. It has also worked with the Dominicans and the Franciscan Youth (Youfra) of

Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

Virgin of Zapopan

The Virgin of Zapopan is also known as

Our Lady of Expectation Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. She is also referred to as ''La Generala'' or the ''Zapopanita''. In 1734, she was proclaimed Patroness against storms and lightning. The statue stays in Guadalajara from June 13 to October 12. After Mexico became independent in 1821, the Virgin was proclaimed Patroness of the State of Jalisco. She was canonically crowned on 18 January 1921, in a ceremony that included presenting the keys to the city of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

Romería—pilgrimage

The

Romería Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. History Christian pilgrimages were first made to s ...

of the Virgin of Zapopan is an annual pilgrimage from the

Guadalajara Cathedral The Guadalajara Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady ( es, Catedral de Guadalajara or Catedral de la Asunción de María Santísima), located in Centro, Guadalajara, Jalisco, is the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Archdiocese of Gu ...

to the Basilica of Zapopan. It is considered the third most important pilgrimage in the country, after the one of the

Virgin of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...

, and the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos. The Romería of the Virgin of Zapopan consists of a route 8 km in length, from the metropolitan

, to the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan. At dawn on October 12 of each year a procession of lay Catholics, pre-Columbian dancers,

mendicants A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many ins ...

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...

and

seminarians A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

carries a statue of the Virgin Mary from the cathedral to the basilica. The figure of the virgin goes accompanied by more than 1,000,000 people. This festival involves most of the population of both cities and finishes with a

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in the plaza outside the basilica. The event ends with traditional dances and evening

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

. UNESCO inscribed Romería—pilgrimage in 2018 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Basilica and abbey history

Different tribes of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

populated the region of Tzapopan since around the 12th century CE. The Spanish

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

, led by

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (Spanish) or (Catalan) is a masculine given name of Latin origin (, , , and so on). Its Portuguese form is . Its patronymic is (). Already in the Middle Ages the name was being confused with the similar but distinct name Munio. The meaning of ...

, conquered this area in 1530 for

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

. Missionaries soon followed. In 1541, on direction of the king of Spain, the town of ''Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Tzapopan'' (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Tzapopan) was founded. Local legend tells that the Virgin interceded between the Spanish and the indigenous peoples during the conquest battles, convincing the local population to lay down their arms and convert to Christianity. Major construction of the abbey and basilica began in 1689, although the original project underwent changes, additions, and conversions over time. The front of the church has a great vestibule, with

Spanish Baroque The arts of the Spanish Baroque include: *Spanish Baroque painting *Spanish Baroque architecture ** Spanish Baroque ephemeral architecture *Spanish Baroque literature **''Culteranismo'' **''Conceptismo'' * Spanish Baroque art ** Bodegón **Tenebri ...

portals that feature

Ionic column The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

s, sculptured

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s, and large

urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...

s on

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

s. The windows of the

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

's rooms are on the side of the church. The main altar is made of Italian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

from

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

. The pedestal for the statue of the Virgin was made of

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

by local artisans in the 17th century. The interior of the abbey has lodgings on the first and second floor and a chapel for the priests. There are also meditation gardens. The basilica serves as a seminary and a center of religious instruction for the Franciscans.Provincia Franciscana de los Santos Francisco y Santiago en México - OFM - Homepage - La Imagen peregrina de Nuestra Señora de Zapopan esta ya en la Ciudad
/ref> Local legend tells that the Virgin came to the assistance of the local populace fighting for independence from Spain in 1821. In 1979 the

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited the church. The basilica is a monumental example of 17th century colonial Baroque architecture, and is surrounded by other Spanish colonial architecture, such as the

Chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

of Nextipac (Franciscan construction), the Chapel of Santa Ana Tepetitlán (a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

founded by Franciscans). There are also later 17th century buildings such as the

Neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...

Church of San Pedro Apóstol, ''Cruz Atrial de Tesistán'', the Municipal Palace, and the Zapopan Entrance Arch. Felipe de Jesus imagen basilica Zapopan

Artworks

The church has a collection of art that includes paintings and sculptures. *The

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

of Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo, who was a patron of the church. *The statue of the Virgin made by local

artisans An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, s ...

from

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

, at the request of Fr. Antonio de Segovia in 1541. *The Holy Family – a work by Victoriano Acuña (1832) *The church's

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 ...

features two

bronze statues Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as well as bronze elements ...

, one of Fr. Antonio de Segovia and of Pope John Paul II. The Huichol Museum is next to the basilica and has a permanent exhibit about the

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

of the

Huichol The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California ...

, Tepehuan and Cora people. The Museum of the Virgin of Zapopan is on the north side of the basilica next to where the Virgin is venerated.

References

External links

*�
Jalisco state.mx: Página de la OFM de la provincia de los SS Francisco y Santiago
{{coord, 20.7213, N, 103.3923, W, source:wikidata, display=title Basilica churches in Mexico Zapopan Baroque church buildings in Mexico Buildings and structures in Jalisco Franciscan churches in Mexico Museums in Jalisco Shrines to the Virgin Mary Religious museums in Mexico Roman Catholic shrines in Mexico Christian museums Landmarks in Jalisco National Monuments of Mexico Tourist attractions in Jalisco 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Mexico Spanish Colonial architecture in Mexico Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity