Church of Santo Domingo, Puebla

Interesting facts

The gilded stucco of the Rosary Chapel was laid over a base of flour, egg white and water, then covered with 24-carat gold leaf.

About sixty angels circle the dome and main vault of the chapel, each with a different expression; some near the choir play instruments.

The chapel's tabernacle rests on twelve Corinthian columns of Tecali marble, standing for the twelve apostles.

Friar Juan de Cuenca began the chapel in 1650, and it was consecrated on 16 April 1690, the anniversary of Puebla's founding, with eight days of celebration.

The chapel's dome shows sixteen female saints and the gifts of the Holy Spirit personified as women.

Six large canvases by José Rodríguez Carnero line the chapel nave above a dado of Talavera poblana tiles.

The Dominicans found springs near the road to Tlaxcala and in 1551 opened three fountains that supplied water to the young city.

Beside the 1659 completion date, a later floor inscription records a 1901 renovation, when wooden flooring gave way to stone slabs.

The atrium's mock battle staged the victory of Lepanto, with Don John of Austria stepping from his ship to give thanks to the Virgin of the Rosary.

Between 1967 and 1971 the whole Rosary Chapel was restored by a team funded by the Mary Street Jenkins Foundation.

Why it is worth it

Few churches in Mexico keep their greatest treasure off to one side, but Santo Domingo in Puebla does exactly that. The Dominican friars were among the first religious orders in New Spain, and they had a vicar in the newly founded city of Puebla by 1534. Their permanent church was formally begun in 1571 with the involvement of Francisco Becerra, the architect who also laid out Puebla Cathedral, and the main body was standing by 1611; an inscription set in the floor gives 1659 as the year the work was finished, and the bell tower begun in 1801 was never completed.

The facade itself is a surprise for a city famous for exuberant Baroque. It is carved in sober grey stone in a restrained, classicising manner that is rare in Mexico: paired Tuscan columns below, a large square window above, a marble Saint Michael (the church is dedicated to the archangel) and a statue of Saint Dominic on top, flanked by the dogs with torches in their mouths that are the emblem of the order. Inside, the single Latin-cross nave has no dome, and the arms of the transept hold richly gilded Churrigueresque altarpieces.

The reason most visitors come lies off the transept: the Chapel of the Rosary, inaugurated in 1690, a showpiece of New Spanish Baroque that admirers of its day called the eighth wonder of the world. The contrast between the sober nave and this lavish chapel is the point of the visit. Next to the church, the old convent gatehouse with its Mannerist ornament now belongs to the José Luis Bello y Zetina museum, and the stone-paved atrium, broken up for shops after the 19th-century seizure of church property, was restored to its original extent in 1986. Until 1826 the atrium was the stage for a mock battle between Moors and Christians, complete with rocket-fitted model ships.

Getting there

The church is in central Puebla, on the corner of 5 de Mayo avenue and 4 Poniente, about 1 km from the main square. Hermanos Serdán International Airport (PBC) is about 22 km away.

From the encyclopaedia

The Convent Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán is a Roman Catholic church within the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles, with the archangel Michael as its patron saint. Attached to it is the Chapel of the Rosario, an example of New Spanish Baroque, considered in its time to be the "eighth wonder of the world". The church is located in Puebla's historic centre.

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Church of Santo Domingo, Puebla

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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From the encyclopaedia