Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Cuautepec

Preciosa Sangre de Cristo is the Church of the Precious Blood of Christ. In Cuautepec, it’s the oldest church in this northern valley and worth a trip.

Construction on the church building finished in 1767. The façade is adorned with five niches finished in the shapes of shells, are carved from quarried stone. The striking entranceway is flanked by two Solomonic columns on each side.

Within the temple, the image of the Holy Christ of the Precious Blood on the main altar is considered a masterpiece of Baroque art. To the left, is another altarpiece with painted images. On the right, another altarpiece features paintings by Sebastián de Ponte.

The Neighborhood

The church is the very center of the Cuautepec Barrio Alto neighborhood. Prior to the early 20th century, the church stood almost alone. This valley of the Sierra de Guadalupe, is exceptionally difficult to access, and thus was only recently populated. After the Mexican Revolution, the original Cuaetepec was divided into Barrio Bajo and Barrio Alto.

Today, the entire valley is often referred to as simply Cuautepec. In fact, Cuautepec de Madero, as it is officially known, was only really evangelized in the 1760s. The Preciosa Sangre Church resulted from those early visits.

With the completion of the first cable-bus system in 2021, the area is expected to change, even drastically. Views from the mountains above, and even from the upper neighborhoods, are outstanding. And the trip from Indios Verdes won’t take more than a few minutes at spectacular heights.