San Antonio Tomatlán

The San Antonio Tomatlán Church is a small historic church in Venustiano Carranza. The Church is dedicated to San Antonio de Padua and it’s noted for construction that began in 1740. The style is notably churrigueresque, the Mexican variant of Baroque. The walls are of tezontle and inside are three altarpieces.

Construction is said to have begun with money collected by an orphan, José Antonio Graizeta, who was raised within the neighborhood. The rare surviving beamed ceiling is thought to date from the 18th century also. The church was a dependent of the Parish of San Sebastian, but became a parish in its own right in 1867.

The church atrium is laregly reduced, today, to an extensive median in the streets out front. This is enlivened by a weekly tianguis that takes up much of both sides of the street. The ancient town of Tomatlan, “place of tomatoes,” would be all but forgotten if not for this church and the similarly named street.