La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel
La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel Built in 1683 by an indigenous stonemason named Zeferino Gutierrez. It is said he copied a design from a postcard of a Belgian church. The pink sand stone, gothic style church is not typical of Mexico. Inside it houses a crypt of a 19th century Mexican President, Anastasio Bustamante. To the left of the main alter is an image of Cristo de la Conquista, which was made in Patzcuaro, in the 16th century, from orchid bulbs and corn stalks. You can also find a statue of St Patrick.
The best part of the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel is sitting in the Jardin, as the sunset’s sets and the lights come on which set the Parroquia ablaze. It is truly enchanting. Drive into the city at night or walk around the corner and the site is so stunning, it takes your breath away. I never tire of seeing it!
Templo de San Francisco (Church of San Francisco)
The Church of San Francisco is set on the north side of the Jardin de San Francisco on the corner of Juarez and San Francisco. It was constructed between 1779 and 1799. Don Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras, designed it. He also designed other churches in the area. The story goes that the construction was financed through bullfights and wealthy families. It was built as a part of a Franciscan monastery with Chapel of The Third Order. (See below)
It is beautiful inside, with it many paintings and sculptures by famous artists depicting the death of St. Francis, crystal chandeliers and pink sand stone walls that reflect the sunlight giving it a cotton candy glow.
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Capilla de la Tercera Orden (Chapel of The Third Order)
The chapel of the third order can be found on the west side of the Church of San Francisco, in the same jardin. It was built by Franciscans in 1713. It is very stark and simple. The main façade has symbols of the Franciscan order and St Francis.
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Nuestra Senora de la Salud (Church of Our Lady of Health)
This landmark in San Miguel de Allende is located east of San Felipe Neri, on the east end of Insurgentes. It has a beautiful blue and yellow tiled dome, the front door is covered with intricate wrought iron designs, above the entrance is a carved stone, conch shell that envelopes the “Eye of God.†Below the shell, are 3 carved niches with life-sized statues of the Virgin, St Anne, and St Joachim. St John the Evangelist and the Sacred Heart are on either side of the front doors.
The façade is Churrigueresque style. (Churrigueresque refers to a Spanish Baroque style of intricate ornament architecture which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 1600s and was used up to about 1750. It is distinctive because of its flowery, dramatic and intense decorative detailing, normally found above the entrance on the main facade of churches and government buildings).
Inside there are neoclassic alters and paintings by numerous famous artists such as Miguel Cabrera, Tomas Xavier de Peralta and Antonio Torres.
The church was initially part of the Colegio de San Francisco de Sales. Don Ignacio Allende and Don Ignacio Aldama both graduated from the Colegio de San Francisco de Sales.
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Colegio de Sales
Colegio de Sales is located next door to Igelesia Nuestra Senora de La Salud, which was also once part of the Colegio. It was founded in the mid-18th century by the San Felipe Neri order. Many patriots like Ignacio Allende were educated here. Father Juan Benito Diaz de Gamarra taught here. He was very progressive for his day. He arranged public debates against scholasticism, (The primary purpose of scholasticism is to find the answer to a question or to resolve a contradiction. It was mostly used and applied to medieval theology) and he encouraged liberal thinking with his teaching of Cartisan philosophy, (Rene Descartes (1596-1650) developed Cartisan philosophy which was intended to extend mathematical method to all fields of human knowledge. He discarded the authoritarian system of the education and taught, that to learn, you had to have universal doubt. But there was one thing that cannot be doubted: doubt itself. This is expressed in his famous phrase, Cogito, ergo sum [I think, therefore I am]. Rene Descartes’ methodology was a major influence in the transition from medieval science and philosophy to the modern era. He is often considered to be the father of philosophy.)
Colegio de Sales was also the place where Spaniards were jailed, when the revolutionaries took over San Miguel.
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Oratorio de St Philip Neri
Oratorio de St. Philip Neri is located near the east end of Insugentes, on the Plaza Civica, just a few blocks from the main plaza.
It was built in the early 18th century on the site of an indigenous church which was called Ecce Homo Chapel. Ecce Homo was built in the 17th century, after the Indians in the area were converted to Catholicism. They built the church with their own money. However, after a Catholic priest fell in love with San Miguel de Allende, the Indians were told to tear down their church and construct Oratorio de St. Philip Neri. Today, the back entrance once used by the Indians still exists.
The façade is in the baroque style but with indigenous features. The Indians used pieces from their old church, including some of the pink stone and the figure of Nuestra Senora de la Soledad (Our Lady of Soledad).
Inside there is an old, leather alter screen, brought from Spain. On the alter, is gold embossed details of the Renaissance. Also there are 33 oil paintings depicting the life of St Philip Neri. St Philip Neri lived in Florence in the 16th century. He founded the Oratorio Catholic Order.
In the East transept (the transept is the area set crosswise to the nave, in a cross-shaped building in Romanesque and Gothic- Christian church architecture) is a painting by Miguel Cabrera of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In the west transept is the entrance to Capilla de la Casa de Loreto (Chapel of the Holy House). It was built in 1735. It was built for and financed by Manuel Canal and his wife, Maria de Hervas de Flores. Inside there are 2 alcoves that contain statues in prayer and below, are the tombs of Manuel and his wife. On top of the gravestones are the family coat of arms. The chapel is modeled after “Holy Houseâ€. Holy House is supposed to be the original home of Mary of Nazareth. (The story goes that Mary’s home was moved, by angels from Nazareth to modern day Croatia, during the Crusades. Then it was moved again, by angels, to Italy, after a Muslim invasion of Albania.)
The chapel of the Holy House of Loreto is extravagantly decorated.
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Iglesia San Rafael
Iglesia San Rafael, otherwise known as Santa Esquela- sits to the left of the parroquia. It is one of the oldest buildings in San Miguel. The building began here in 1564. It always reminds me of The Victoria Tower in the Palace of Westminster.
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Templo de Inmaculada Conception Las Monjas (Church of the Nuns)
Located on the corner of Canal St. and Hernandez Macias, is Templo de Inmaculada Conception or as it is fondly called Las Monjas or Church of the Nuns. Its’ bright yellow dome is one of the largest in Mexico and it can be seen from miles around. Construction on the church began in 1755 with monies from Canal’s daughter and wealthy families. The dome, itself, was not finished until 1891. The dome was built by Zeferino Gutierrez after viewing pictures of Les Invalides in Paris. It has a beautiful gilded alter and many wonderful old paintings. Inside on the interior doors are astute sayings meant to make one pause and ponder on entering the temple.
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Templo de San Juan de Dios
