Magical Neighborhood

Some years ago, the Tourism Council, in an attempt to promote local sites of architectural and cultural importance began designating certain towns within Mexico "Barrios Magicos," or "Magical Towns," and certain neighborhoods within the Federal District Barrios Magicos or "Magical Neighborhoods."  One of them is Iztacalco, where I spent a day recently on a walking tour.



At the time of its settlement, Iztacalco was located on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.  It was actually settled by the Aztecs (or the Mexica) before they built their capital city, Tenochitlan, on the site of the modern-day city center at the Zocalo.  At the time of the conquest, Iztacalco was just another small town in the valley.  It remained a separate small town until 1954, when it was finally absorbed by Mexico City (By that time the lake and the canals had been drained.)  The main square of Iztacalco remains a quiet enclave of peace and serenity surrounded just a few blocks away by congestion and bustle of the largest city in the world. 

The Church shown above was built by Franciscan missionaries in the 16th century.  The main altar is in the baroque style, although not so elaborate as other colonial altars.

 

One of the side chapels is dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe

 

 

Although there is no longer a convent on the site, the whole parish complex retains the 'look' of a cloister.

 

 

Detail of the carving on a door inside the patio to the side of the church.

 

There are something like seven churches from the colonial era within a quite small area.  A few remain active as parish churches, most are only open a day or two during the year, for a saint's day patronal festival or during Holy Week.  One of the loveliest churches is Santa Cruz, the church of the Holy Cross. 



 



 

 
 



The Church, like most buildings constructed in the colonial era, is made of volcanic rock called Tezontle. 

The retablo,  the area behind the altar is actually more elaborate than that of the of larger parish church.  The bright greens and lavender in the decorations on the walls and in the ceiling detail below are colors inspired by the pre-Hispanic artwork of those whom the missionaries were trying to convert. 

 

Each of the churches also had a kind of a free-standing chapel called an ermita in a separate location.  This is the chapel of the Church of the Holy Cross.

 

You can also see in the above picture that over the years the neighborhood has encroached upon the historic site.  What must at one time have stood apart from the neighborhood, perhaps on a small plaza, is now completely and closely surrounded by houses, apartments, and businesses.  Below is one neighbor who lives next door to another chapel:

 

 

Here is the Asunción Church, also built of the same volcanic rock, here arranged in a kind of a checkerboard pattern.   Otherwise, this is a much simpler construction than the other church buildings -- probably since is was intended for a congregation of indigenous converts.  (The more elaborate structures were for the ruling-class Spaniards and their families.)

 

 

Maybe 'magical' is an overstatement, but it was captivating to visit a quite different neighborhood just a short subway ride away from where I live.