Los Ángeles Chapel, Villa Milpa Alta

The Los Ángeles Chapel is the Capilla de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles. It’s one of the main barrio chapels of the four original barrios of the Villa Milpa Alta. It’s a very small structure. As the picture indicates, the atrium is covered today, and that permits larger services. It’s something of a historical turnaround from entirely outdoor open-air chapels of the early colonial period. With the pandemic of 2020/2021, many churches returned to the old style even despite some 400 years of building these stone churches.

This chapel dates only from 1958. The façade is of cut stone and tezontle, with most of it clad in green quarry stone. It’s a single with a barrel vault and a main altar and base in marble. But inside, it’s remarkably beautiful and well kept over its young 60 year history.

The Barrio Los Ángeles extends directly south from the Historic City Center of Villa Milpa Alta. The Los Ángeles Chapel is just a few minutes walk. But the neighborhood itself is just a few streets. On the northernmost of these participate in the sometimes busy commercial life of town. Even traveling just a bit further south, Villa Milpa Alta starts changing to countryside and farmland.

All within easy walking distance, one of the charming things about Villa Milpa Alta is the number of little barrios.