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Catedral Metropolitana

Photos: Nan Palmero, CC BY 2.0 DEED

Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral is built on land of a mystical origin. It was the crossroads of the four cardinal points, and the demarcation of the meeting points of the four original neighborhoods of ancient Tenochtitlan. It’s thus the spiritual center of the Aztec capital.

It’s the first Cathedral to have been built in the Americas.
The cathedral consists of two bell towers, a central dome, and three main portals.
Its four façades contain portals flanked with columns and statues.
There are five naves consisting of 51 vaults, 74 arches, and 40 columns.
Commissioned by Hernán Cortés, he is said to have laid the first stone.
It is built on top a small temple probably dedicated to Xitle or Quetzalcoatl, and next to the Templo Mayor, the Aztec’s most important religious site.
The material for constructing the church was largely scavenged from the destroyed pyramids and structures.
The church has been under constant construction, because the ground beneath it has sunk at least 10 meters.
There is said to be a tunnel connecting the Cathedral with the remains of the Templo Mayor, next door.
The basements of the Cathedral are said to contain the remains, or the very foundations of the ancient Pyramid of Tonatiuh.
Beneath the present church, a stone is said to be the remains of an Aztec altar upon which human sacrifices were made.
The cathedral bell towers can house up to 56 bells. At present, there are only 35.
The Turriana Library, the second library in all of Mexico, was housed within the church.
14 of the cathedral’s 16 side-chapels are open to the public. Each is dedicated to a different saint or saints, and each was sponsored by a religious guild.
The chapels contain ornate altars, altarpieces, retablos, paintings, furniture and sculptures.
The cathedral is home to two of the largest 18th-century organs in the Americas.
A crypt beneath the cathedral contains the remains of many former archbishops.
The cathedral has approximately 150 windows.

The Metropolitan Cathedral is widely considered to be the highest point of Vice Regal and colonial art, architecture, and craftsmanship.

Guided tours are widely available as are trips up the bell towers and more.

Heart of México Walking Tours: The Ancient Route

Metropolitan Cathedral and Tabernacle Construction on the building began in the mid-16th century and was completed in 1813. The best architects and artists of New Spain took part, from Claudio de Arciniega to Manuel Tolsá, from Simón de Pereyns to Nicolás Rodríguez Xuárez. On the main façade are the architectural styles developed during the Viceroyalty: Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical. In the center of the three portals making up the façade, three large reliefs carved in marble survive. The relief in the center represents the Assumption of Mary, to which the temple is dedicated. On the side doors are "St. Peter receiving the keys from the hands of Christ" and "The nave of the Church". The bell towers stand out, topped by stone belfries, and the neoclassical dome. The interior consists of five naves and the transept. In the central nave is the Altar of Forgiveness, the Cathedral Choir, the two organs and the Main Chapel or Chapel of the Kings. This includes the magnificent Altarpiece of the Kings, the work of Jerónimo de Balbás. In the ambulatory naves there are several works of art and furniture of the old temple. In the naves housing the chapels there are seven spaces on each side, and next to the main altar are the Chapter House and the main Sacristy. Of the fourteen lateral chapels, the one dedicated to the Relics, one is consecrated to San Felipe de Jesús (first Mexican saint), and the chapel of the Angels conserves a beautiful set of works of art. The chapel of San Pedro holds valuable works of art and the chapel of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias de Granada also holds significant altarpieces. In the main sacristy hangs a collection of paintings and sculptures, sumptuary works ,and objects of utilitarian art. The paintings are the work of two magnificent artists: Cristóbal de Villalpando and Juan Correa. Both flourished at the end of the 17th century. The images of greater devotion of the temple are: El Cristo del Veneno, El Cristo de la Salud, El Señor del Cacao and El Santo Niño Cautivo. On the side facing east, the Metropolitan Tabernacle and the Seminary School and a School for Infants were built. Today only the Sagrario remains standing. It was designed and built under the direction of Lorenzo Rodriguez in the middle of the 18th century. Its two facades masterfully combine the quarry of Chiluca with the tezontle in pilasters and niches with apostles.

Heart of Mexico Walking Tours: Ruta Zócalo–Templo Mayor

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Huellas Prehispánicas bajo la Catedral Metropolitana de México

When the city of Tenochtitlan fell to Spanish rule, more than 50 buildings were destroyed in the sacred central quarter. A first Cathedral was demolished almost immediately, but soon a more ambitious project was underway for the most important church in the vice royal capital. Archaeological excavations uncovered part of the Temple of the Sun and the stairway of another building beneath the current Cathedral. The remains of the primitive church were excavated within the current atrium, and today these can be admired through archaeological windows.

Heart of México Walking Route: The Ancient Route