Ex-monastery of Santiago Apóstol
Encyclopedia
The Ex-monastery of Santiago Apóstol is located in the town of Cuilapan de Guerrero
in the Mexican
state of Oaxaca
. The fortress-like complex is easily seen from the highway as one travels south from the capital city of Oaxaca
on the road leading to Villa de Zaachila
, and it is visited by both Mexican and international tourists. The complex is located on a small hill which gives it a view of much of the valley area. It is one of the most extravagant and elaborate colonial era constructions in Oaxaca, but it is often overlooked in favor of churches and monasteries located in the Mexico City area
. Built of green quarried stone and river rocks, it is a quiet place where footsteps can echo in the hallways. The extravagances of the site, including the tall basilica, the elaborate baptismal font, the Gothic cloister and murals remain as national treasures. The decorative work of the monastery, especially its murals, are important because they show a systematic blending of indigenous elements into the Christian framework, done in order to support the evangelization process in the local Mixtec and Zapotec peoples. The single-naved church is used for worship but the roofless basilica and cloister are under the control of INAH, which uses many of the second-floor rooms of the cloister as workshops for restoration projects and runs a small museum with important liturgical items from the 16th century.
and contained the mandate that the construction be “modest”. Construction began in 1556 with Antonio de Barbosa as designer. The complex is a mixture of several architectural styles that were predominant in Europe in the 16th century and includes Gothic
, Renaissance
, Plateresque
and Moorish
elements. There are also some indigenous elements to be found in the decorative work. Unlike larger monastic institutions in Mexico City and Puebla
, which could have as many as fifty monks, only four friars were stationed there in 1555, Domingo de Aguiñaga, Tomás Hurtado, Vicente Gómez and Antonio Barbosa. They were also in charge of the regular clergy, who probably built their church in the middle of the old Mixtec town.
Abuses of the encomienda
system, which reduced native population to near slaves, often led to grandiose projects, violating the mandate for modesty, with documents from the 1560s admonishing friars for their exploitation of native workers. Construction of the complex was halted in the 1570s and the precise reason is not known. Possibilities include the lack of funds, or that the complex had become so sumptuous that authorities stopped it. Another very likely reason was a dispute over who should continue paying for the construction. If a monastery was built on encomienda land, then the encomendero (in this case the Cortés family) would pay. If built on Crown lands (such as the city of Antequera) then the Crown was responsible. Disputes over the land led to dispute over who needed to pay for the construction of the monastery. Another possibility was the native population declined from about 43,000 in the 1520s to 7,000 in 1600, leaving no workers. The pause was initially meant to be temporary, but it became permanent.
In 1753, the church and monastery was secularized, meaning control passed from the Dominicans to regular priests. At this time, the monastery had a large collection of ecclesiastical ornaments, painted altarpieces, polychrome sculptures and murals. The complex served as the principal site of interaction between the native populations and the Spaniards and was the center of the political, economic, social and religious life of the town, becoming Cuilapan’s identifying feature. However, from this point the wealth and prestige of the institution declined. These secular authorities neglected the maintenance needs of the complex and it deteriorated until it was finally divested of its religious function by the 19th century.
Vicente Guerrero was imprisoned in the small rooms of the lower cloister by political opponents and subsequently executed on 14 February 1831.
The basilica and church remained unfinished and mostly unused as late as the 19th century. The single-naved church was roofed in the 19th and early 20th centuries and is the only portion of the complex which is used for worship. The basilica and monasteries are tourist attractions under the control of INAH. The Cristero War
forced the closing of the complex altogether in 1926. When it reopened three years later, much of it was converted into a school for local rural children. Ten years later, that school was relocated to San Antonio de Cal and it was declared a national monument by Instituto Nacional de Arqueología e Historia (INAH) on 10 July 1937.
The main elements of the complex include the atrium
, the three-aisled basilica
, the single-naved church, the two-story cloister, the porteria (covered porch entrance to the cloister), a pilgrim reception area and a number of small chapels.
s) of pre-Hispanic temples, and provided space for the 20,000 people that inhabited the area in the 1560s. With only four friars and a small enclosed church, large services in this open area, especially on Sundays and holidays, became the only practical solution The atrium possessed a large atrium cross similar to those found in Acolman
, Alzacoalco, Tepoztlán
and Pátzcuaro
, but only the base now remains.
The largest structure is a rectangular unroofed basilica with elegant arches decorating its exterior facades. The facade is Plateresque, with three arched entrances topped by a triangular pediment
with a crest over that. In the center of the pediment, there is the coat of arms of the Dominican order with a dog to the side, symbolizing Saint Dominic of Guzman. Flanking the facade are two towers with circular bases topped with peaked cones. The interior divides into three naves by heavy columns with Tuscan
capital
s, which were meant to support a complex Gothic roof. These arcades of stone columns are mirrored by a series of doorless arched entrances on the eastern and western facades of the building. This has led some to classify the building as an “open chapel,” but the purpose of this unusual feature is not truly known. The three nave design is also interesting as this had mostly gone out of fashion in other parts of Mexico in favor of single naved structures. No documents from that time explain why the older design was chosen A plaque located inside has a mixture of Mixtec signs and the date 1555 written in Arabic script
One curious aside is a small wall and a large pile of rocks which is located to the side of this basilica. This is the remnants of the first wall, mixed with rock being prepared to build a house for Hernán Cortés. However, Cortés later abandoned this project.
While smaller, a more traditional style church is considered to be the main one, and is still used as a religious building. The building is austere with heavy buttress
es supporting a semicircular dome In the interior, there is an altarpiece with paintings attributed to Andrés de la Concha
and a headstone marking the final resting place of Fray Francisco Burgoa
. This church has only one nave with a choir and an upper choir area, baptistery
and presbytery
. At the side of the church is the area for pilgrims which preserves some of its dependencies and vestiges of its murals. The pilgrim area would often house travelers who did not have funds for hotel.
The cloister is a two-story building, and much of it underwent restoration work in 1962. INAH occupies many of the second floor with workshops for restoration projects. There are also portraits of priests on the second floor which have been almost entirely lost to time. Vicente Guerrero was imprisoned in the noviate wing of this cloister for three days, with the window of his cell one of the site’s attractions. To the south of the monastery, there is a monument to the execution.
One of the most significant aspects of the complex is its murals and other decorative features. There are both monochromatic and polychromatic murals, with monochromatic dominating. The murals contain Biblical and other religious scenes which show some interesting localized modifications, starting with the use of monochrome paintings. Elements of imagery and symbols from Mixtec and Zapotec religious and cultural traditions can be found in both the murals and in some of the architectural elements. The purpose of the blend was to juxtapose the spiritual traditions of Mesoamerica
and the Iberian Peninsula
. The idea was to make conversion easier for the indigenous people by allowing them to recognize similarities and compatibilities between the old and new religions so that there would be gradual conversion and acculturalation. The most obvious of this is the large atrium, which mimics a teocalli or sacred precinct. A mural of the crucifixion on the wall of the sacristy of the basilica has scenery with references to the geographical features of Cuilapan. The monochromatic scenes in the processional corridors contain allusion to the religious practices and cosmogonies of the Mixtecs.
Cuilapan de Guerrero
Cuilapan de Guerrero is a town and municipality located in the central valley region of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. It is to the south of the capital city of Oaxaca on the road leading to Villa de Zaachila, and is in the Centro District in the Valles Centrales region.Cuilapan, originally called...
in the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state of Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
. The fortress-like complex is easily seen from the highway as one travels south from the capital city of Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca
The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...
on the road leading to Villa de Zaachila
Villa de Zaachila
Villa de Zaachila is a town and municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico, six km from the city of Oaxaca.It is part of the Zaachila District in the west of the Valles Centrales Region...
, and it is visited by both Mexican and international tourists. The complex is located on a small hill which gives it a view of much of the valley area. It is one of the most extravagant and elaborate colonial era constructions in Oaxaca, but it is often overlooked in favor of churches and monasteries located in the Mexico City area
Greater Mexico City
Greater Mexico City refers to the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called Mexico City Metropolitan Area , constituted by the Federal District—itself composed of 16 boroughs—and 41 adjacent municipalities of the states of Mexico and Hidalgo...
. Built of green quarried stone and river rocks, it is a quiet place where footsteps can echo in the hallways. The extravagances of the site, including the tall basilica, the elaborate baptismal font, the Gothic cloister and murals remain as national treasures. The decorative work of the monastery, especially its murals, are important because they show a systematic blending of indigenous elements into the Christian framework, done in order to support the evangelization process in the local Mixtec and Zapotec peoples. The single-naved church is used for worship but the roofless basilica and cloister are under the control of INAH, which uses many of the second-floor rooms of the cloister as workshops for restoration projects and runs a small museum with important liturgical items from the 16th century.
History
Construction of the monastery complex began in the 1550s. The Dominicans came to Oaxaca and established themselves in Cuilapan in 1550, taking charge of evangelization efforts in the central valleys region. Official license to build the complex was granted in 1555 by viceroy Luis de VelascoLuis de Velasco
Luís de Velasco was the second viceroy of New Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the mid-sixteenth century....
and contained the mandate that the construction be “modest”. Construction began in 1556 with Antonio de Barbosa as designer. The complex is a mixture of several architectural styles that were predominant in Europe in the 16th century and includes Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, Renaissance
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
, Plateresque
Plateresque
Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" , was an artistic movement, especially architectural, traditionally held to be exclusive to Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in the late 15th century, and spread over the next two centuries...
and Moorish
Moorish architecture
Moorish architecture is the western term used to describe the articulated Berber-Islamic architecture of North Africa and Al-Andalus.-Characteristic elements:...
elements. There are also some indigenous elements to be found in the decorative work. Unlike larger monastic institutions in Mexico City and Puebla
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
, which could have as many as fifty monks, only four friars were stationed there in 1555, Domingo de Aguiñaga, Tomás Hurtado, Vicente Gómez and Antonio Barbosa. They were also in charge of the regular clergy, who probably built their church in the middle of the old Mixtec town.
Abuses of the encomienda
Encomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....
system, which reduced native population to near slaves, often led to grandiose projects, violating the mandate for modesty, with documents from the 1560s admonishing friars for their exploitation of native workers. Construction of the complex was halted in the 1570s and the precise reason is not known. Possibilities include the lack of funds, or that the complex had become so sumptuous that authorities stopped it. Another very likely reason was a dispute over who should continue paying for the construction. If a monastery was built on encomienda land, then the encomendero (in this case the Cortés family) would pay. If built on Crown lands (such as the city of Antequera) then the Crown was responsible. Disputes over the land led to dispute over who needed to pay for the construction of the monastery. Another possibility was the native population declined from about 43,000 in the 1520s to 7,000 in 1600, leaving no workers. The pause was initially meant to be temporary, but it became permanent.
In 1753, the church and monastery was secularized, meaning control passed from the Dominicans to regular priests. At this time, the monastery had a large collection of ecclesiastical ornaments, painted altarpieces, polychrome sculptures and murals. The complex served as the principal site of interaction between the native populations and the Spaniards and was the center of the political, economic, social and religious life of the town, becoming Cuilapan’s identifying feature. However, from this point the wealth and prestige of the institution declined. These secular authorities neglected the maintenance needs of the complex and it deteriorated until it was finally divested of its religious function by the 19th century.
Vicente Guerrero was imprisoned in the small rooms of the lower cloister by political opponents and subsequently executed on 14 February 1831.
The basilica and church remained unfinished and mostly unused as late as the 19th century. The single-naved church was roofed in the 19th and early 20th centuries and is the only portion of the complex which is used for worship. The basilica and monasteries are tourist attractions under the control of INAH. The Cristero War
Cristero War
The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was an uprising and counter-revolution against the Mexican government in power at that time. The rebellion was set off by the strict enforcement of the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 and the expansion of further anti-clerical laws...
forced the closing of the complex altogether in 1926. When it reopened three years later, much of it was converted into a school for local rural children. Ten years later, that school was relocated to San Antonio de Cal and it was declared a national monument by Instituto Nacional de Arqueología e Historia (INAH) on 10 July 1937.
The main elements of the complex include the atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
, the three-aisled basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
, the single-naved church, the two-story cloister, the porteria (covered porch entrance to the cloister), a pilgrim reception area and a number of small chapels.
Structure
The complex is center on a large walled courtyard or atrium, with small stone chapels in the northeastern and northwestern corners. This rather large atrium had a practical as well as symbolic function. The atrium resembled the extensive courtyards (teocalliTeocalli
A teocalli 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....
s) of pre-Hispanic temples, and provided space for the 20,000 people that inhabited the area in the 1560s. With only four friars and a small enclosed church, large services in this open area, especially on Sundays and holidays, became the only practical solution The atrium possessed a large atrium cross similar to those found in Acolman
Acolman
Acolman de Nezahualcoyotl is a town and municipality located in the northern part of Mexico State, part of the Greater Mexico City area, just north of the city proper. According to myth, the first man was placed here after being taken out of Lake Texcoco. In the community of Tepexpan, the...
, Alzacoalco, Tepoztlán
Tepoztlán
Tepoztlán is a town in the 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 inhabitants, while the municipality reported 41,629 inhabitants in the...
and Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro is a large town and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Tarascan state and later its ceremonial center...
, but only the base now remains.
The largest structure is a rectangular unroofed basilica with elegant arches decorating its exterior facades. The facade is Plateresque, with three arched entrances topped by a triangular pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
with a crest over that. In the center of the pediment, there is the coat of arms of the Dominican order with a dog to the side, symbolizing Saint Dominic of Guzman. Flanking the facade are two towers with circular bases topped with peaked cones. The interior divides into three naves by heavy columns with Tuscan
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
capital
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
s, which were meant to support a complex Gothic roof. These arcades of stone columns are mirrored by a series of doorless arched entrances on the eastern and western facades of the building. This has led some to classify the building as an “open chapel,” but the purpose of this unusual feature is not truly known. The three nave design is also interesting as this had mostly gone out of fashion in other parts of Mexico in favor of single naved structures. No documents from that time explain why the older design was chosen A plaque located inside has a mixture of Mixtec signs and the date 1555 written in Arabic script
One curious aside is a small wall and a large pile of rocks which is located to the side of this basilica. This is the remnants of the first wall, mixed with rock being prepared to build a house for Hernán Cortés. However, Cortés later abandoned this project.
While smaller, a more traditional style church is considered to be the main one, and is still used as a religious building. The building is austere with heavy buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es supporting a semicircular dome In the interior, there is an altarpiece with paintings attributed to Andrés de la Concha
Andrés de la Concha
Andrés de la Concha was a Spanish painter who is considered one of the best painters of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. De la Concha was born in Seville and came to the New World in 1568...
and a headstone marking the final resting place of Fray Francisco Burgoa
Francisco Burgoa
Francisco Burgoa was a historian. He entered the Dominican Order on 2 August 1629, and soon became a master in theology. The voluminous books written by him on the past of his native Mexican state, Oaxaca, are very rare and valuable, though not absolutely reliable on several topics...
. This church has only one nave with a choir and an upper choir area, baptistery
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
and presbytery
Presbytery (architecture)
The presbytery is the name for an area in a church building which is reserved for the clergy.In the oldest church it is separated by short walls, by small columns and pilasters in the Renaissance ones; it can also be raised, being reachable by a few steps, usually with railings....
. At the side of the church is the area for pilgrims which preserves some of its dependencies and vestiges of its murals. The pilgrim area would often house travelers who did not have funds for hotel.
The cloister is a two-story building, and much of it underwent restoration work in 1962. INAH occupies many of the second floor with workshops for restoration projects. There are also portraits of priests on the second floor which have been almost entirely lost to time. Vicente Guerrero was imprisoned in the noviate wing of this cloister for three days, with the window of his cell one of the site’s attractions. To the south of the monastery, there is a monument to the execution.
One of the most significant aspects of the complex is its murals and other decorative features. There are both monochromatic and polychromatic murals, with monochromatic dominating. The murals contain Biblical and other religious scenes which show some interesting localized modifications, starting with the use of monochrome paintings. Elements of imagery and symbols from Mixtec and Zapotec religious and cultural traditions can be found in both the murals and in some of the architectural elements. The purpose of the blend was to juxtapose the spiritual traditions of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
and the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. The idea was to make conversion easier for the indigenous people by allowing them to recognize similarities and compatibilities between the old and new religions so that there would be gradual conversion and acculturalation. The most obvious of this is the large atrium, which mimics a teocalli or sacred precinct. A mural of the crucifixion on the wall of the sacristy of the basilica has scenery with references to the geographical features of Cuilapan. The monochromatic scenes in the processional corridors contain allusion to the religious practices and cosmogonies of the Mixtecs.