Introduction
The Basilica Cathedral of Puebla, as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is known according to its Marian invocation, is the episcopal see of the Archdiocese of Puebla de los Ángeles (Mexico). It is one of the most important buildings in the historic center of Puebla declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has the prerogative of being the first sumptuous temple that under fine architectural designs was built in the Americas, consecrated in 1649, ahead of the Metropolitan of Mexico that was dedicated in 1653. It was founded by Philip II of Spain. The current Herrerian-style cathedral was built between the 16th and 17th centuries, and replaced the previous one that existed in what is now the atrium. Seventy-four years passed from the beginning of its construction in 1575 to its consecration, during the reigns of three successive kings of Spain, Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV. The setbacks that occurred throughout those years led to numerous modifications of the original layout. By 1624 the works were completely suspended until the arrival of Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza in July 1640, who resumed the works with determined enthusiasm. The new reforms gave a higher elevation to the central nave above the processional ones, allowing the passage of natural light and giving it the appearance of a pyramidal structure. It was consecrated by Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza on April 18, 1649, without having been completely finished.
The space it occupies is rectangular in shape, recharged in the corner of another larger floor, forming a large space for the atrium. The building is organized into five naves: a central one, two lateral ones and two niche chapels, its Renaissance-style façade stands out. Attached to its back is a building for offices of the Mitra, its former headquarters, and the building of the chapel called Ochavo. With its little more than 70 meters high, it was the tallest church in the Spanish colonies. The cathedral is considered one of the most important museums of New Spanish and later art due to the treasures it houses. Over the centuries it has been enriched in works of painting, sculpture, goldsmithing and carpentry of great artistic quality, as well as its decorations, the large boarded doors, aluminum and the treasures of the sacristy that protect the rich priestly ornaments embroidered with gold and silver thread, sacred vessels, chalices, ciboria, reliquaries and crosses bathed in gold inlaid with jewels and diamonds. Its historical archive has documents dating back to the founding of the city and many are waiting to be classified.
The first church
Once Queen Isabella of Portugal, wife of Carlos V, Holy Roman Emperor authorized on January 18, 1531, at the request of the Real Audiencia, the foundation of a town of Spanish Christians in the province of Tlaxcala, in the place called Cuetlaxcoapan, It was necessary to build the first parish church in the city, for which it was decided to do it in front of the Plaza Mayor in what would be called Portal de Borja and from 1852 Portal Iturbide, it was located in the middle of the street bordering on both sides with the lots granted to the first residents of the city, the mayor Hernando de Elgueta and Alonso González, who were given a license to build portals. In the sacristy of this parish, a meeting was held on May 16, 1535, with fifty-seven people who signed before a clerk in order to start the construction of a new larger church, while Bishop Julián Garcés announced, in a general meeting with the people, their intention to build a new temple.
The old major church
In 1537, once the new city had the minimum conditions for Bishop Garcés to reside there, the Cabildo requested, among other things, his transfer, which occurred on October 3, 1539, with the consent of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza; therefore the bishop’s cathedral would occupy small and provisional buildings until there was the definitive one. In 1543, the construction of a temple for the new episcopal seat was approved by real cédula of Carlos V, Holy Roman Emperor which received the new bishop Friar Martín Sarmiento de Ojacastro since Garcés had died the previous year. Meanwhile, the space dedicated to the temple next to the Plaza Mayor had been occupied by primitive residents and there was a need to buy the houses recently built by them. The Spanish colony had been planned to be made up of a set of rectangular blocks from the beginning. One big central space was set aside for the plaza, and another one was left next to it. After the first few years, nobody knew what it would be used for, it turned into a big church. Construction began on August 29, 1535, with the financial help of Bishop Ojacastro and settlers from the city where the first stone was laid, with the assistance of Corregidor Hernández de Elgueta and Mayor Alonso Martín Partidor. The temple of 1535 was in the same space that the cathedral occupies today, however its exact position is still being discussed, but not its orientation, from north to south, that is, facing the Plaza Mayor. His factory, according to his contemporaries, was mediocre, however Motolina wrote in 1541 “it is very solemn, and stronger and larger than all those built to date throughout New Spain. It has three naves, pillars made of excellent black stone and grain, and three doors with three very carved portals and a lot of work. Because of the quality of its materials, it had to be repaired on several occasions in which the Temple of Nuestra Señora de la Concordia served as cathedral. The modest Major church did not correspond to the claims of the inhabitants of the city of los Angéles who had requested its expansion until they finally obtained the consent of the king to build a new cathedral.
The new cathedral
The orders to carry out the projects and preparatory matters took many years, and a real cédula of 1552 signed by Prince Philip II of Spain in Monzón (Huesca) recommended that they get down to work and even the help offered by the king in the year 1560 was not taken advantage of by lack of resources. It had to be bought from Alonso Martín Partidor himself, owner of the houses where the cathedral would be built. Finally, on November 18, 1575, construction work began. The initial architect was the Spaniard Francisco Becerra, designated major master, together with Juan de Cigorondo, senior worker, who prepared the layout and model as well as the interior and exterior, showing them to the Dean and the Cathedral Chapter and, upon approval, they were given the land and instructions for laying foundations. At first the works received an important boost and the viceroy himself ordered that the Indians of Cholula and Tlaxcala participate in the construction of the cathedral. The building should be centered longitudinally on the large block that was given to it, loaded toward the east, and have an atrium in front that would serve as a cemetery. Over time, this atrium would be closed off and covered by the cathedral Tabernacle in front of the feet of the temple. The city’s Plaza Mayor would be on its north side because the building would face east–west. In 1580 Francisco Becerra left Mexico called by the viceroy of Peru to carry out the works on the cathedral of Quito and Cusco, leaving the works on the cathedral unfinished, which were resumed between 1587 and 1590 by order of the viceroy Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga on the basis of a new trace and in which natives of Tlaxcala and Cholula had to work. However, Juan Gómez de Trasmonte had already been working on reforming the Becerra project since 1634, since he had been designated as major master. However, it wasn’t until the arrival of Bishop Juan de Palafoxy Mendoza that his plan could pass from the plan to the works. Between 1618 and 1640, the works were suspended at the height of the walls and cornices, missing the altar, chapels, vaults, and the floor, which at the time was made of Gómez de Trasmonte, who had served as Major Master of the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, adapted the project, giving it a more classical appearance and a basilica plan.
The era of Palafox y Mendoza
When Bishop Juan de Palafox got to Puebla, he brought a royal order dated January 19, 1640, telling everyone to finish building the cathedral. He was pretty taken aback when he saw the location. The building was barely started only half the pillars were up, and everything else was just left there, with no tools or materials around. They hadn’t even begun the arches or vaults. It looked like no one was planning to keep working on it anytime soon. Even worse, criminals were hiding out there because it was thought to be a safe location. Some chapels were being used as homes by married Indigenous families, and there were other things going on that shouldn’t have been happening in a church. So, Palafox decided to raise money. He got the city council involved, raised church taxes to pay for it, and enlisted the assistance of everyone in Puebla. He also gave some of his own money. This last part didn’t go over well with the religious orders, especially the Jesuits, who got into a big fight with him about it. It wasn’t easy to get the work going again. They needed about 1,500 workers, and Palafox checked on them every week. The architect, Gómez de Trasmonte, changed the plans a bit and made the central part of the church higher, so more light could come in. It gave the building a pyramid-like look from the front. However, the cathedral still lacked its towers and finished front when it was finally blessed on April 18, 1649. The day after the blessing, they moved the bones of five of the eight bishops who had served there into the cathedral. A huge crowd showed up for the ceremony. Even though it was a big celebration, people were also sad because Palafox was leaving for Spain soon. In 1647, after a prolonged argument with him, the Jesuits were successful in moving him. Even though he left, he left behind the cathedral, the San Pedro Colleges, and started the library that now bears his name.
Later additions
The cathedral’s various sections were finished in stages over time. For example, the main entrance, called the Puerta del Perdón, was completed in 1664. That same year, in July, the town council approved the building of the “Ochavo,” a special place to store valuable religious items. They hired a well-known architect, Carlos García Durango, who had already worked on some vaults and helped finish the north tower. The San Cristóbal façade, or side entrance that faces north, was finished in 1690. Around 1691, they added the ironwork things like the bars around the chapels, the railing running from the altar area to the choir, and the railings around the Altar of the Kings. Then, in 1772, the whole floor of the cathedral was replaced. They took out the original brick floor, called petatillo, which had been put in by Bishop Palafox, and replaced it with Santo Tomás marble. The cathedral was given a much more refined appearance thanks to this marble, which came all the way from Tepozuchil hill.
Architecture of Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Puebla, Mexico
Architects: Francisco Becerra, Manuel Tolsá, Juan Gómez de Trasmonte, Juan de Cigorondo.
Architectural styles: Baroque architecture, New Spanish Baroque architecture, Neoclassical architecture, Herrerian style architecture.
Exterior
The cathedral or basilica’s land is 120 meters long and 80 meters wide, the same size as a typical city block. The cathedral has a length of 97.67 meters and a width of 51 meters, is shaped like a Greek cross, and is in the same cardinal position as St. Peter’s in Rome: to the east is the Altar of the Kings, to the west is the main entrance called the Pardon or Papal Entrance, to the north is the royal portal, and to the south is a simple, unadorned portal.
Towers
The north tower, the only one that has bells, also called the Old Tower, was finished in 1678 during the reign of Charles II of Spain, without cost of lives and under the charge of the major master Carlos García Durango, according to the inscription engraved on the inner wall of the first body of the tower. The south tower was built later in 1731 and opened on September 29, 1768, during the episcopal government of Francisco Fabián y Fuero. Both are 70 meters tall, making them the tallest structures in the American colonies at the time. The first body, which is of the Doric order and has three pilasters on each front and two arches for bells, one in each intercolumnium: these pilasters have their pedestals and receive the corresponding cornice, highlighting the architrave and carved friezes-rosettes on the cornice propecture, in which there are triglyphs that lack metopes. The two towers at the front of the temple are equal and square, and their cubes are The arches are of double proportion with their imposts, jambs and bands that garnish them, breaking these on the pedestal and secured with stonework balustrades, being all of this first body eight, the space between these and the cornice, is divided by a strip, the rest being bossage. The second body, which is of the Ionic order and is slightly narrower in width, comes next. It has three pilasters that don’t have a pedestal but rather a plinth on each front. These pilasters, like those on the first floor, are grooved and get the cornice of the order to which they belong, just like the first floor. This body, although it has almost the same height, was skillfully divided by its author into two parts in the middle, with an ergot with dentils, placing four arches on each front, two in the lower division with a balustrade, and the same number in the upper one without it, which is pleasing to the eye and avoided the many subdivisions so repeated in the architectural bodies. This cornice is crowned by a sober balustrade intersected with pedestals in the corners and in the median of the fronts, in which round pyramidal merlons finish off, followed by an octagonal plinth, three times higher than the balustrade, which in each angle has a merlon like the previous ones, leaving these higher than the others and in the middle of them. The towers are topped by domes of brick and azulejos topped with a roof lantern crowned by a white stone scotia called Villería (variety of opaque white marble) that supports a globe of the same stone approximately 1 meter in diameter, ending with a cross three meters high.
Bells
The Old Tower is the only one that has bells totaling ten, eight esquilas or smaller bells and a bell for the clock. The heaviest and most famous is the so-called “Campana María” the maximum registered weight of this with its clapper is 8 tons 572 kilos and 572 grams. The well-known legend states that the Mara bell was raised and held in place by angels because of the difficulty and difficulty of raising it through a narrow opening. The reality is that it was raised on the day of Saint Mark in 1732 by the Indian Juan Bautista Santiago, major master in charge of the works.
Some memorable chimes
The cathedral bells, long reserved for momentous occasions like royal coronations or the birth of a crown prince, have also marked key milestones in independent Mexico’s history. They rang on August 2, 1821, as Agustín de Iturbide entered the city with the Army of the Three Guarantees, and again on May 5, 1862, when a downpour halted the French advance and Puebla erupted in celebration. A century later, on May 5, 1962, the bells tolled at noon to commemorate 100 years since the victory at Loreto and Guadalupe. They sounded again on October 30, 1964, when Governor Nava Castillo was ousted after losing public support, and once more on January 28, 1979, as Pope John Paul II passed the cathedral in an open car, greeted by crowds in the city center.
Facades
The cathedral has five doors with access to the interior, one on both sides, three on the front, and all obey a sober Renaissance style.
Gate of Forgiveness and sides
The middle one, which protects the so-called “Puerta del Perdón”, rises 34 meters and opens only on big occasions, the same as in the Mexico City Cathedral and others. In 1664, it was finished. The first body of this portal is of the Doric order, and it has four fluted half columns with pedestals and cornices. In the intercolumns, there are two well-crafted niches with two stone statues of Villera: one of Saint Peter with a book and key and the other of Saint Paul with a sword. In the middle, there is the Puerta del Perdón, and its impost runs above the niches and between it and the cornice, there are some The second body is of the Ionic order, with four half columns and in its intercolumns there are niches and shields like the first with the statues of Saint Joseph, holding the baby Jesus by the hand on the left, and Saint James the Great on the right with a gourd on a staff and above a pine. The third body consists of two fluted Doric half-columns on pedestals and its cornice without pediment is topped with the arms of Spain, which from 1827 to 1930 was covered with mixture with the intention of putting the Mexican shield, however, and finally the place bears the Mary’s monogram but keeping the golden fleece and the royal crown. On both sides of the Puerta del Perdón, two posts end in a semicircular point and ergot. Two Latin inscriptions were engraved on the poles of the archbishopric of Puebla when it was established in 1904 by a bull issued by Pius X. One of the plaques on the left honors the first bishop, Julián Garcés, and the other on the right honors the first bishop, Ramón Ibarra y González. Both of the side portals depict a relief with Villera frames. On the left, it depicts Saint Rose of Lima receiving roses from the Virgin and a shield that reads “Cordis mei rosa” (Rose of my heart). On the right, it depicts Saint Teresa of vila in the moments when an angel wounds her with an “arrow in the heart” (religious ecstasy). The shield on her left reads “Vulner.
North and South side covers
The door that leads to the Plaza Mayor is called San Cristóbal after Cristóbal de Licia who is the patron saint, among other things, of all entrances and exits, since there was a gigantic wooden statue of this saint behind the door since the inauguration of the Cathedral (1649) until the times of the intendant Manuel de Flon Conde de la Cadena (1786-1811) when it was removed. Today in its place is a large canvas of the same saint and the statue is kept in the temple of Santiago. The north and south portals are similar in architecture although they vary in details, the south one being simpler, lacking statues or ornaments. The latter is located in front of the House of Culture, the former Seminary, and its atrium is only the width of the portal because it is boxed in on both sides by buildings of the church itself. The gate at this entrance was built by José Mariano Saavedra. It was opened to the public in September 2010 after having remained closed for more than 50 years. The north-facing doorway is approximately 30 metres high and consists of three sections. The first is in the Doric order with four fluted columns and capitals with ovoids carved in their fourth bezel, ending in well-proportioned cornices without triglyphs . Between the columns there are shelves with well-defined niches topped with shells, and in it there are two life-size statues of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Matthew by Villería. The impost of the arch runs along the sides; there are also medals with portraits of founding kings in low relief and white stone, as well as children adorning the spandrels of the arch. The second body is of Ionic order that starts from a highly decorated pedestal, made up of four pilasters, two on each side, and in the center a window with a tastefully carved frame, and the intercolumns have niches and medals with the statues of St. Luke and St. Mark. It continues upwards with a cornice, this one adorned with a frieze with triglyphs, alongside which run two magnificent posts that give the whole a majestic appearance. The tops of the posts are used to receive an arch that covers the third and final section. This arch breaks away from the cornice of the second section and is formed by two Corinthian columns on pedestals with their cornice and pediment. The architecture of this doorway is considered a masterpiece for its stonework, which is why, not without reason, it has an engraving on the pedestal (Hoc opus, Hic labor).
Domes: Major and that of the Kings
It is half-orange and rises majestically above the transept, its soffit being octagonal with three Ionic pilasters at each corner and in its cornice on the four walls of the fronts there are as many windows. The exterior surface consisted of a covering of yellow and green terracotta tiles with a graceful cusp and a statuette of the Immaculate Conception. In each quarter, the same numberof stars are distributed equally. The dome of the Chapel of the Kings is smaller; its shell has four windows and four staircases, each topped by a statue of Saint Joseph. This dome is particularly striking at night when the church is illuminated.
Atrium
The place was probably occupied by the Major church, antecedent to the current one, which later, when it was demolished, the rubble remained for a time while the cathedral was being built, Veytia, who was born in 1718, saw them, and Bermúdez de Castro, born in 1746, describes them, but they no longer appear in the Plan of 1754. During the existence of the Major church in the 16th century, the chapel of the natives called the chapel of “San Pedro de los indios” was erected there, and next to it some priestly houses where the priests lived there being able to witness from their balcony the bullfights that took place opposite, there was also an ossuary for the bones that were taken from the Hospital de San Pedro. Once these buildings disappeared according to a plan of 1754, a new chapel was built for the natives and at their expense, this time on one side of the south tower, it had the shape of a barrel made up of four vaults, its measurements are 6 m. high, 7.5 wide, and 15 m. long and was dedicated to “Las Lágrimas de San Pedro”. It was known at the end of the 18th century and during the 19th as “Capilla de los Aguadores” and whose entrance was through the atrium. It was closed to worship in 1890, transferring the devotion to the Temple of Los Gozos. Its arches were canceled and today it is used as a cellar. In 1766, as in the old Major church, an underground place was built again in front of the chapel for the mortal remains of the natives. In the 18th century, the entire atrium was paved with stairways for access and was surrounded by attic posts on whose cusps there were statues of saints and between the posts 17 Tuscan columns topped with lions and shields of white stone from Villería. The current trellis began to be built in 1878, being financed in each section by private donors according to the red stone inscriptions that can be seen today.
Interior
As has been said, the interior plan of the cathedral forms a parallelogram 97.67 meters long, from the façade (Puerta del Perdón) to the sidewalk of Calle 2 Sur, from West to East, by 51 meters wide, from South to North; if we have to consider only the cathedral temple without the Miter, that is to say, from the façade to the Altar of the Kings, the measurement is 82 meters. Five naves rise in this space in the form of a Greek cross: the main nave, the crossing nave, two processional naves and two for the chapels. It has 14 colossal Doric style columns almost 15 meters high from the plinth to the capital, all fluted, 6 pilasters of the same height, supporting the vaults and arches of the upper nave and 18 columns embedded in the side walls of 9.78 meters from plinth to capital, they support the vaults of the lower naves. All the pillars carry the weight of forty vaults and two domes, all of which are made of gray quarry stone that was brought from the neighboring towns of the city and carved with such precision that the work seems error-free.
The 14 isolated columns that form the middle nave are not round, but form a square post with a column embedded in each face, taking this conception into account, we have a total of 74 columns and six pilasters. These support 12 visible main arches and 4 hidden ones, adding those of the lateral naves are a total of 30 visible and 4 embedded in the main walls. The main body of the cathedral has two domes, one over the Altar of the Kings without a dome and another with it in the crossing, the largest of all, in addition to 14 spherical or half-plate cupolas, which belong to the lateral naves; in addition, those of the chapels must be counted, which are 14 of the type of truncated vaulted ceiling or handkerchief, being a total of 39, all adorned with their rosettes in the middle and golden coffers ordered from largest to smallest towards the vertices that are covered fleurons with nail and in turn the medallions hang on each one along the temple and turning it. With the exception of the shell of the largest dome made of pumice stone to lighten its weight, lime and stone were used in the others. Eight niches with sculptures of the prophets and evangelists in white stucco are found in the drum of the main dome. Its creator was the Spanish architect and sculptor Pedro García Ferrer, nephew of Bishop Palafox. The paving is of alternating red and black marble,’0 called Santo Tomás. The building is illuminated by 124 windows, of which 27 are round, using 2,215 panes that were originally placed in 1664.
Altars of the Gospel and the Epistle
Each collateral nave has its altar at its head: the one on the Gospel side is dedicated to Saint Joseph and the one on the Epistle to Archangel Michael. Both of these altars have Corinthian order and are equally gilded. They are made up of four large columns in the first body and two small ones in the second. Each altar has a large crystal niche inside that holds four bouquets of the same metal and four images of the saints to whom they are dedicated on lovely silver bases. The image of the Archangel Michael has his cane and other silver decorations, and on the sides in the intercolumnios, on some shelves, two statues of Archangel Gabriel and Archangel Raphael are placed on beautiful silver bases and their candle holders of the same metal; these figures being life-size. The altar table has a silver front and supports a tabernacle more than a meter high made of the same metal, with a niche in the middle where a Christ by José Antonio Villegas Cora is placed, and others on the sides with various relics. The same silver ornamentation can be found on the altar dedicated to Saint Joseph, which is located to the right of the Altar of the Kings. Between the columns, there are statues of Joachim and Saint Anne. Cora created the image of Saint Joseph. Another Holy Christ with the Virgin and Saint John is placed in the tabernacle of this altar.
Stations of the Cross
The series of paintings that recount the Stations of the Cross located along both processional naves is the work of the famous 18th-century Oaxacan painter Miguel Cabrera.
Transept
Through the access on the north side of the transept there is a large-format oil painting of Saint Christopher carrying the Child Jesus and in front of it is the archangel Michael by the 18th-century painter Luis Berrueco. On the south side the patronage of Saint Joseph is represented and on the opposite side Stages of the Life of Saint John Nepomucene, martyr of the secret of confession, by the 19th century painter Miguel Jerónimo Zendejas. In the second body of the crossing naves, the four evangelists, Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint John and Saint Luke, are represented in 19th-century tempera paintings by the Pueblan painter Julián Ordóñez, the doors’ gates were assembled in cedar in the 17th century in the Mudéjar style that were completed by the 10th Bishop Diego Osorio de Escobar y Llamas and the architect Francisco Gutiérrez intervened in the regency of the work, highlighting three reliefs on the main gates: in the center the coat of arms of Spain, in the lateral ones that of the first bishop Friar Julián Garcés Romano and that of the 9th bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza.
Altar of the Kings
The reredos’ images of holy kings and queens in the lateral niches are what give it its name. The complex is made up of a dome on pendentives, a main altarpiece, two side reredos and the tabernacle. The chapel was designed by the Spaniard Juan Martnez Montaés. The main altarpiece, which was created by master Lucas Méndez under the direction of Pedro Garca Ferrer and was inspired by a sketch by Sebastián de Arteaga, was consecrated by Bishop Palafox on April 18, 1649, and its factory lasted seven years. The sumptuous painting of the dome is one of the few tempera paintings preserved in Mexico and that consecrates the triumph of the Eucharist, it is the work of the Baroque painter Cristóbal de Villalpando made in the year 1688, commissioned by Bishop Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, achieving a large set of figures in bright colors in the manner of the great Italian masters of the seventeenth century. He himself adorned the pendentives with photographs of the four Jewish heroines Judith, Ruth, Esther, and Jael—strong women dressed in the elitist fashion of the 17th century. The fourth body and auction is made up of the oil painting of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Trinity placed between paired columns of the compound order, the large central space is made up of the second and third body with Solomonic columns, it is occupied by the oil painting of the Assumption of Mary, on the left side intercolumns Edward the Confessor and Ferdinand III of Castile on the right side Helena of Constantinople, mother of Emperor Constantine, and Margaret Queen of Scotland. The first body is made up of square pilasters and Ionic capitals. In each intercolumnium, there are sculptures of Saint Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, and Louis IX of France. In the middle of this body is the Tabernacle, which has four Solomonic columns. In the glass niche, there is an image of Our Lady of Defense on a base and a silver column. In the collaterals of this tabernacle, there are two oil paintings: the birth of the Child Jesus, in All the paintings on this altar, with the exception of the dome, were made by the Spanish architect and painter Pedro García Ferrer, a close relative of Bishop Juan de Palafox.
High altar
In the year 1649, Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, the ninth bishop, gathered the possessions of his predecessors that were in other Puebla churches and established the pantheon of bishops in the old tabernacle. They tried to make a new one around 1798, when Salvador Bienpica y Sotomayor was bishop. They thought it would be silver, but this idea was dropped. Later, they talked to Manuel Tolsá, director of sculpture at the Academy of Mexico, who agreed to make the plan and model. Once they got the contract, the demolition was done on September 1, 1799, starting the new work with a lot of money. The architect José Manzo took over the direction after some changes in the administration. They put in a lot of effort and didn’t think about the cost until they finished the great work that kept the people of Puebla waiting for 20 years. On December 5, 1819, the current main altar, which is called Cypress, was blessed. On May 14, 1824, the Angelopolitan bishops’ mortal remains were buried and moved to the bishops’ crypt. The main artists who worked on it, in addition to Tolsá and Manzo, were: Pedro Patiño Ixtolinque, master Pedro Pablo Lezama in the work of marble and masonry, José Ramírez in stucco; The bronze and silver work was done in Mexico by Manuel Camaño, the chiseled Joaquín de Izunsa and the silversmith Simón Salmón who, among other works, cast the beautiful image of the Immaculate Conception of Tolsá. The ambons for the readings and the pulpit were the work of Joseph de Medina in 1719.
Architecture
The height of the Cypress, from the ground to the head of the statue of Saint Peter, is 17.50 meters. It is a Neoclassical style building with the influence of ancient Roman architecture of its time of decline, which involves volumetric searches breaking into complicated entablatures and pediments to the counterpoint of straight lines and curves, in this monument there is a wide variety of materials such as Tecali marble, stucco, bronze, brass and cedar wood in the crypts. This cypress is placed on a stone pedestal 2.61 meters high in square and sits on a circular plan of Corinthian order forming an open tower with four fronts. The first body is made up of 16 fluted Corinthian columns, 5.66 meters high, grouped by four at each angle that enclose the doctors of the church in white stucco, Saint Gregory, Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome. The cornice is interrupted in each section of the pillars to house in its gaps large gleams with the anagram of the Virgin Mary and stucco finials of angels, on the dome a Saint Peter surrounded by seraphim and clouds in white stucco finishes off, the lower part it was decorated in a very sumptuous way in keeping with the rest of the monument, the building leaves a large hollow space for the tabernacle and the Immaculate Conception, it is classified by means of a stepped plinth with eight sides that mark corner pilasters and have gilded doors in their openings, it is closed by a better half and culminates with the statue of the Immaculate Virgin who steps on the biblical serpent in the clouds, it was cast in bronze and weighs 920 kilograms. The base of the cypress, in a round shape and with a flat vault, where there are four small doors for access to the crypts of the bishops, are only opened on November 2, the All Souls’ Day.
Choir
The Choir that is located in front of the Puerta del Perdón, was built in the last decade of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century with the purpose that this place was destined for the oratory of the cathedral chapter de Puebla, for which the installation was required, in successive periods, of organs for the harmonization of ceremonies. The Choir is made up of three large walls that open in the shape of a horseshoe toward the high altar. Master Juan Mateo de la Cruz built a wrought Pueblan iron gate in the 17th century to close the space. This gate leads to the Calvary in ivory and the collaterals, which are the bell towers. The interior is made up of 52 chairs in two exclusive rows for the ecclesiastical council, the stalls are made of beautiful Pueblan marquetry, with fine wood, bone and ivory forming different grecados, on the backs of each chair. The two small doors that give access to the choir were inlaid on both sides and with reliefs of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; these stalls and doors were donated by the 14th bishop Pedro Nogales Dávila and worked in the eighteenth century by the master Pedro Muñoz, in the center of the choir on a tecali stone baluster there is a cedar lectern where it supports four books of the 16th century with Gregorian music and engravings by Luis Lagarto, this beautiful lectern finishes off the statue of Saint John of Nepomuk martyr of the secret of confession and patron saint of priests.
Organs
The organs that make up the choral ensemble are three: the first, whose main decoration faces the epistle nave or right-hand processional nave, dates from the 18th century, was built from 1710 to 1719 by Félix Izaguirre, and is no longer in use today, the second old organ it was built by Inocencio Maldonado in 1737; The third organ that looks towards the front of the baldachin and towards the Altar del Perdón is the largest in this cathedral it has been given the name “International” because three nations participated in its construction: the United States in 1958, in the city of Buffalo the electronic part with four keyboards was built, Germany the artistic and gilded pipes and Mexico the assembly of cedar wood and gold leaf decoration. It was assembled inside the cathedral by artists from Puebla. The so-called International organ has 3376 pipes or musical sounds, is electro-pneumatic and powered by turbines and electricity. The longest tube is 12 meters long, and the smallest tube is 1 centimeter in diameter. It plays at major events like weddings, graduations, concerts, and others. On December 8, 1973, Archbishop Octaviano Márquez y Toriz gave it the go-ahead. Of the three organs, the two old ones are no longer in service since they stopped working at the end of the 19th century and they were never sent to restore since the chapter wanted to preserve them as artistic relics or decorative jewels, testimonies of the historical and religious trajectory of the cathedral.
Gospel chapels
Along the left processional nave, known as the Gospel nave, there are several chapels, each with its own unique history and treasures. The first is the Chapel del Apóstol Santiago, which connects to the Tabernacle. The symbols on the fan-shaped grille show that it was originally dedicated to Saint James the Great. The original Baroque altarpieces were removed and replaced by a Doric Neoclassical one, which now features a sculpture of Saint James the Less in the central niche most likely salvaged from the older altarpieces. One of the standout pieces here is a painting of Saint Philomena, patron saint of maids and said to help people find honest work, painted by Rafael Morante in the 19th century. Other niches house sculptures of John the Baptist and Saint Eligius, the latter an impressive piece by sculptor Zacarías Cora. The gospel side of the altar features San José María Yermo y Parres, and on the opposite wall, a gate covers the old doorway that used to lead into the Tabernacle. On this same side, there’s a painting of the Descent from the Cross and a striking image of Saint John of Nepomuk offering his cut-out tongue as a tribute to the Virgin this one by Miguel Jerónimo Zendejas. Below, under a large bronze tombstone, lie the remains of Puebla’s first constitutional governor, General José María Calderón. Next comes the Chapel of San Pedro, whose altarpiece, inaugurated in 1830, features two columns and six pilasters with niches for Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Accompanying them are oil paintings of Jesus walking on water, Christ bound, and Saint Francis of Assisi, all works by the Italian painter Vincenzo Camuccini. The Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe holds a famous painting by Miguel Cabrera from 1756, placed in a Neoclassical altarpiece created under the direction of José Manzo, who oversaw much of the cathedral’s transformation from Baroque to Neoclassical. Flanking the image of the Virgin are statues of Blessed Bartolomé Gutiérrez and Saint Philip of Jesus, both martyrs in Japan. Nearby, there’s The Coronation of Mary by Cristóbal de Villalpando, and The Holy Family, once again by Cabrera. A Latin inscription on a cartouche in front of the Virgin’s altar reads “Non fecit taliter omni nationi” (“He has not done this for every nation”), a phrase spoken by Pope Benedict XIV in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The remains of the first Archbishop of Puebla, Ramón Ibarra y González, are also interred here.
Continuing, the Chapel del Sagrado Corazón de María originally stored relics and sacred objects, then was rededicated to Saint Andrew, which is why his sculpture and his X-shaped cross still remain. José Manzo also reworked this chapel, giving it its Neoclassical look and dedicating it to Mary under the title Salus Infirmorum (“Health of the Sick”). The central painting is by the Pueblan artist Francisco Morales Van den Eyden. On the sides, there’s an Assumption of Mary by Vincenzo Camuccini and anonymous works of Saint Alphonsus Liguori and Saint Bonaventure. The next chapel, La Inmaculada Concepción, was entrusted to the silversmiths’ guild of Puebla. Its altarpiece includes a statue of the Immaculate Virgin, Saint Louis of Toulouse, and Saint Bonaventure. On the side walls hang two oil paintings: one of Friar John Scotus Eriugena and another of Pope Pius IX. Then comes the Chapel del Señor de la Preciosa Sangre, once known simply as the “Chapel of Christ” for its powerful life-size sculpture of the crucified Jesus. Though there’s a legend saying it was made in Europe and blessed by Pope Paul VI, the truth is it’s crafted from corn cane paste a technique from Michoacán and was likely brought by Bishop Antonio Ruíz de Morales y Molina in the 1570s. Flanking Christ are sculptures of the Virgin of Hope and Saint John the Baptist, both by Master Lugardo. The original Baroque altarpieces were later replaced with Neoclassical ones by architect José del Castillo. In small niches you’ll find wooden carvings of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, a sculpture known as Christ the King of Mockery, and an anonymous painting with a small “Divine Face” above the grille. The final chapel on this side is the Chapel of San Nicolás de Bari, which once served as the access point to the old bell tower and later as a baptistery. The Jesuits dedicated it to Saint Ignatius of Loyola around 1700 and adorned it with three altarpieces and paintings by Juan Rodríguez Juárez. In the early 20th century, Saint Nicholas of Bari was moved here from his original location next to the high altar, since the number of his devotees was interfering with the main liturgical ceremonies. As with the others, this chapel was converted to the Neoclassical style. The sculpture of Saint Nicholas, attributed to José Antonio Villegas Cora, stands out, along with paintings about the Virgin Mary’s genealogy by 17th-century artist José Rubí de Marimón. Other artworks depict Saint Nicholas’s role in the Council of Nicaea and the miracles at his tomb. This marks the final chapel along the Gospel nave.
Chapels of the Epistle
On the right side of the cathedral, known as the nave of the Epistle, a row of chapels holds centuries of devotion, memory, and art. The first is the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, which connects to the sacristy and features an altarpiece showing the Virgin of Sorrows at Calvary, with Saint Rose of Lima and Saint John Vianney on either side. Next is the Chapel del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, where at the foot of the altarpiece there’s a curious and revered painting of Our Lady of La Manga an image said to have miraculously appeared on the cuff of a Mexican Hieronymite nun and nearby lie the remains of General Miguel Miramón and the journalist Trinidad Sánchez Santos. The Chapel of the Holy Relics, originally consecrated by Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, then to Saint Andrew, and later to Saint Anne, was finally designated in the late 1600s as the place to hold relics so the celebrant could view them from the high altar. In the 18th century, José Manzo redesigned it in the Neoclassical style, matching the Guadalupana chapel across from it. Inside are busts made by Academy of Fine Arts artists, each containing bone fragments of saints, with the names written on boxes attached to the railing. The central niche holds reliquaries of all kinds, alongside paintings by Juan Tinoco. On the altar is a copy of the Dolorosa de Acatzingo, and below it, the Roman wax figure of Saint Florence the Martyr, complete with relics. Among the relics displayed is the femur of Blessed Sebastián de Aparicio. Paintings in the chapel include Saint Sebastian and Saint Ignatius of Loyola by Baltasar Echave, a Valencian painter from the Sumaya school, and on the side walls, The Adoration of the Kings and The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, both by José de Ibarra, who in his time was known as “the Mexican Murillo.” Then comes the Chapel of San Juan Nepomuceno, which was originally for Saint John the Evangelist but in 1678 was rededicated to Saint Nicholas of Bari due to the large number of devotees.
However, since their presence disrupted the high altar ceremonies, the cult of Saint Nicholas was moved to the Gospel nave and this chapel was given to Saint John of Nepomuk. On its altar is a painting of the Virgin of the Light and a statue of Saint John of Nepomuk sculpted by José Antonio Villegas Cora in the 18th century. On each side are statues of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Francis of Paola by Bernardo Guerrero, and the walls feature four scenes from Saint John of Nepomuk’s life. In the Chapel del Señor de la Columna, there’s a powerful statue known as the Señor de los Azotes, brought from Acatzingo, Puebla, and on the side walls hang two massive oil paintings from 1683 by Cristóbal de Villalpando: The Descent from the Cross and The Transfiguration with the Bronze Serpent, both full of energy and dramatic light. Then there’s the Chapel de la Sábana Santa, another space transformed by José Manzo into the Neoclassical style. He also painted allegorical images of the Passion and included depictions of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and Saint Stanislaus Kostka, two Jesuits known for their Marian devotion. In the center sits a neo-Gothic bronze baldachin housing an image of the Virgin of Ocotlán, which has led many to call this chapel by her name, as she is the patroness of Puebla and Tlaxcala. This image is a replica by Bernardo Olivares Iriarte. Above the altar is a beautiful Catalan Calvary, and every Good Friday, the altarpiece is opened to reveal the most ancient artwork in the entire cathedral a copy of the Holy Shroud, bearing the date April 8, 1594, and marked with the Latin inscription Extractu ab originali Taurini (“Copied from the original of Turin”). It was brought to Mexico by Archdeacon Fernando Gutiérrez Pacheco. Flanking the sides are paintings of Saint Veronica and the Dead Christ, possibly works of Pedro García Ferrer, a relative of Palafox y Mendoza. The last space on this side is the Chapel of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, right by the Epistle nave’s exit. It features a Neoclassical altarpiece, and its walls are adorned with two massive 17th-century Passion scenes The Descent and The Calvary. There’s ongoing debate over who painted them some say Rodrigo de la Piedra, others claim Antonio de Santander. Regardless of authorship, the works capture deep emotion and bring a powerful close to this side of the cathedral.
Sanctuary
The Metropolitan Tabernacle of Puebla is a chapel of the cathedral of the city of Puebla , Mexico . The chapel called the Tabernacle responded to the need for a space apart from the cathedral to handle matters related to the Sacraments and spiritual services originally provided to the Creole-Spanish population and their servants, as it was also necessary that the interior of the cathedral as the episcopal seat should not, for practical reasons, serve as a parish.
Sacristy
The access to the Sacristy is through the first chapel on the side of the epistle, its measurements are 17 m and 10.40 m wide. A large table made of fine wood in the Renaissance style is in the middle of the large space, surrounded by a large chest of drawers made of fine wood that houses the numerous and rich liturgical ornaments. The upper part of the sacristy is full of paintings. The large canvas in the background represents The Triumph of the Catholic Church over paganism, the lateral panels cover them, on the left, the painting of “The Triumph of the faith of Jesus Christ over the pagan theogony” and on the right another of the “Triumph of the religion”, all by the 17th-century Mexican painter Baltasar de Echave Rioja that were copied from prints by Paul Rubens. Other canvases on the Revelations of the Apocalypse, also by Echave Rioja, crown the midpoints of the side panels. All of these paintings are encased in beautiful gilt altarpieces of composite order. Large-format paintings cover the walls of the next vault as well. The “Immaculate Conception stands out under the patronage of the bishops of the Diocese of Puebla” is painted in the front interspace in Churrigueresque style, and Friar Julián Garcés, first bishop, and Juan de Palafox y Mendoza stand next to it. This beautiful canvas was painted by Luis Berrueco, and the apparitions of Our Lady of Pilar to Saints James and On the sides is “The lavatory” of the painter Luis Berrueco from the 18th century. On the sides of the entrance doors are two ovals, one of Saint Joseph and the other of Archangel Michael, both by the painter Ibarra. In one corner of the large space is a 3 m high tecali marble fountain or ewer.
Hall of los Gobelinos
In this room, 4 tapestries (Gobelins) from Greek mythology shine in all their magnificence, representing Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons on the banks of the Termodont who was defeated by Heracles, the chariot of the aurora excels as a nurse of nature and the encounter of Thalestris and Alexander the Great Generalissimo of the Hellenes. The last gobelin is the embarkation of the Argonauts in search of the golden belloniso, they come from the French manufacture of Jean Gobelin of the fifteenth century, brought by the Spaniards.
Chapter House
Also known as the Hall of Bishops, it was carved with a certain amount of stone, it was originally covered with “expensive moldings in the manner of those of Mexico, with ribs, an enclosure that was modified by groin vaults made of flagstone and brick. One of the areas less known by the public of the majestic Cathedral of Puebla, which only a few people access. In it are the portraits of the bishops that Puebla has had throughout its history, such as: Rosendo Huesca y Pacheco. In the center is a statue of Saint John Nepomuk, who is there to remember the secrecy of the meetings. It has changed places several times, firstly it is the twin room of the sacristy, which was later inhabited as the Sagrario, remaining, as it has been until today, separated from the main enclosure, even in matters of worship. Later, the room that is currently the Hall of los Gobelinos was built, with its dome for greater solemnity, and then, in the 19th century, the construction of the room that today serves for the aforementioned purposes. The current Chapter House has the Hall of los Gobelinos as an antechamber, although it is somewhat narrower since it measures just 5.07 m. wide by 20 m. of length. It is covered with groin vaults, barely pointed, one of them with a skylight, oculus or “porthole”, in the front wall.
Chocolatier hall
The chocolate room is located next to the Hall of los Gobelinos and its windows adjoin the old Calle del Obispado (now 5 Oriente). It was used by the prebendaries and canons to store their belongings in the narrow cabinets that each one was assigned, it was also provided with breakfast or snack during the long sessions of chapter in which cups of chocolate were not lacking. Its vaults are divided into several sections by an edge or handkerchief. Along its three walls are the oil portraits of distinguished canons of the Puebla cathedral who would later attain episcopal dignity.
Archive
The physical Archive of the Cathedral Chapter is a space of 14 m by 4 m adjacent to the sidewalk of 5 Oriente with only access through the Chapter house, very small for the extensive amount of documents it keeps. It has documents dating back to 1539, such as volume number one of the branch “Actas de cabildo” and the “Asientos de diezmos arrendados” from the period 1539–1583, even before the third Mexican Council of 1585 ordered the establishment of archives for the New Spanish cathedrals. Since it started out as a place to store documents, it has been in the same place for centuries without much organization or coordination. It wasn’t until 1952 that the Cabildo decided how to arrange the documents, but it didn’t decide how to categorize them because it didn’t have any indexes or catalogues. Without due control and because it was considered a pile of old papers, the archive suffered the theft of documents, many times unconsciously and others self-interested, such as the fact that there is not a single signature of Bishop Palafox, an absence attributed to the fact that the older students advantaged of the Palafoxian Seminary was rewarded with an original signature of the prelate as a souvenir. In the same way it suffered other important mutilations such as the evident lack of complete files torn from volumes of lawsuits for tithes or for rights and prerogatives of the cathedral. With all this, the cathedral Chapter Archive is considered one of the most important of the New Spanish period and indispensable for regional history. The archive was rescued and organized by Support for the Development of Archives and Libraries of Mexico.
Music
The cathedral in Puebla had a distinguished musical tradition, dating from the late sixteenth century. One of the most distinguished musicians was Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, active as chapel master from 1629 to 1664. His lengthy and intricate compositions included polychoral masses and villancicos (for Christmas). His music shows, among other things, the non-white population of New Spain in tocotines (influenced by Nahua) and negrillos and porto ricos (influenced by Africa). The cathedral has extant choir books of his compositions. One of the greatest contributions to American music history are his villancicos.
Chapel of the Holy Spirit (Ochavo)
This chapel is better known as del Ochavo, it has a semicircular vault and an 8-sided lantern, its interior is covered by 3 altarpieces that are covered with small paintings and mirrors belonging mostly to historical religious series. This chapel is in the Baroque style of the 17th century, it was a small oratory and deposit, today reduced to its minimum expression and disuse, the oil paintings alternate with framed and embroidered reliquaries, they are works by Cristóbal de Villalpando. It was built under the episcopal government of Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz. Its factory is due to the renowned architect Carlos García Durango commissioned by a chapter session who approved the work in the year 1674. It was made with an octagonal floor plan that was called Ochavada at the time. It was enclosed in a box that was almost 10 meters by 10 meters on each side. The walls were 7.30 meters high until they reached the base of the dome. The lantern had Talavera decorations on it and ended in an iron weathervane.
Jewelry
Four beautiful burnished silver jugs with their bouquets silver cupella 1.80 m high are combined with the said bouncers and in the tabernacle four other equal jars with their bouquets although 1.20 m high. Twenty-five oil lamps and six lamps hang from the vaults of the church, of which two stand out that hang on the sides of the tabernacle of more than 2 m high and thirty lights each. The cypress is decorated with 48 candlesticks or bouncer One of Diego Larios’s masterpieces, the second-largest lamp that hangs from the largest dome, is known as Mestiza because it is made of silver with gold overlays. He maintains 42 lights. It was unveiled on Corpus Christi in 1751. It has other sets of candlesticks and lecterns, being one of exquisite workmanship, bronze candlesticks with their sets of pedestals, paxes, scepters, 6 rods for the pallium, salvillas, pitchforks, gold thuribles among other things. The gold monstrance that commemorates Corpus Christi and the circular jubilee is almost a meter tall and features numerous diamonds and emeralds on each side. It was unveiled on June 1, 1727. Another gold one, about a meter tall, is the work of Antonio de Villafae and is made of gold in a variety of shades. It is mounted with pearls, emeralds, diamonds, topazes, amethysts, and garnets, and it was first seen in September 1803. Francisco Javier Clavijero in his Description of the City of Puebla de los Ángeles speaks of some of these pieces. The silverware of this cathedral church is superb, among other things it has a large silver lamp a little smaller than that of the Cathedral of Mexico but superior to it due to the excellence of the work with which it is made. It has four man-sized silver statues. The monstrance, made of solid gold and studded with precious stones, including a diamond that is said to be worth 10,000 escudos, stands out most of all for its wealth. Among the sacred vessels, two gold ones stand out, as well as a monstrance, made by José Inzunza. An elegant tenebrio of 5 and a half meters high in ebony wood richly adorned with silver, the work of José Mariano Castillo.
Feast Day
Feast Day : 8 December
The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Puebla, Mexico, celebrates its feast day on December 8th, honoring the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Conception with Masses, processions, and local festivities.
Church Mass Timing
Monday to Saturday : 7:00 AM , 8:00 AM , 9:00 AM , 9:45 AM , 7:00 PM.
Sunday : 7:00 AM , 8:00 AM , 9:00 AM , 10:00 AM , 11:00 AM , 12:00 PM , 1:00 PM , 6:00 PM , 7:00 PM , 8:00 PM
Church Opening Time:
Monday to Friday : 9:00 AM, 2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM.
Saturday : 9:00 AM, 1:00 PM.
Sunday : Closed
Contact Info
Address : Cathedral of Puebla
C. 16 de Septiembre s/n, Historic Center of Puebla, 72000 Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, Pue., Mexico
Phone : +52 222 232 2316
Accommodations
Connectivities
Connectivities:
Airway
Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Puebla, Mexico, to Puebla International Airport, distance between 46 min (26.5 km) via Cholula – Puebla.
Railway
Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Puebla, Mexico, to Puebla Terminal Station, distance between 17 min (6.1 km) via Blvd. Héroes del 5 de Mayo.
