Puebla, Iglesia de Santo Domingo y Capilla del Rosario

There are so many churches in Mexico.

They are vital to the framework of Mexican life. Here in Merida they are a bit more unpretentious than in say Puebla. We saw quite a few churches, chapels, and convents on this trip. They included some of the most incredible craftsmanship that we have ever seen; And the most gold leaf. They absolutely glow in the dark from the amount of gold leaf, because of this the natural light that enters through the tambor style windows negates the need for daytime artificial lighting.
There were a number of members of our group that were offended but the ostentatiousness of the wealth displayed in the churches. The comments centered on how many people could be helped with the money used to decorate and maintain these incredible buildings.

AND the churches are owned by the government; it's the government that maintains them, not the church.

The first, and therefore the most startling (for us) church we entered on our trip was La Iglesia de Santo Domingo y Capilla del Rosario in Puebla de los Angeles, Puebla; construction started in the mid 16th century and was not completed until 1690, nearly a century later. Both it's Baroque entrance and main alter date from 1688.

The statue of Our Lady of the Rosary is sculpted from cypress wood and it thought to be one of the finest examples of colonial art in Mexico.

Our Lady of the Rosary altar

This is the main altar

A detail fragment

One of the many additional altars in the church



details from the baroque facade

Back from Puebla and Oaxaca

Just got in from our trip, and instead of putting stuff away, doing laundry, studying for
Spanish class tomorrow, or trying to come up with something for dinner - I am drinking beer and checking email, Facebook, and blogging. What a slouch!

Trip was action packed 7 days. Lots of pics, lots of stories, and a really great time. We flew in to Mexico City and then bused to our locations.

This morning coming out of Oaxaca City to get to the airport at Mexico City we were delayed a bit because of the protest/strike. Many large vehicles were not running, and were lining the main streets of Oaxaca City (buses, combis, taxis, construction vehicles, etc) to protest the rise in fuel prices. Lucky for us our bus was still running, but it was something to see the solidarity of all the vehicles, drivers, families, and supporters out there letting the government know how they feel.

Puebla de los Angeles was nice, but I like Oaxaca better; actually I like some of the communities around Oaxaca City the most. Very rural, agricultural, lots of open space, and oh the mountain vistas.

Lots of churches on the agenda, along with several arqueological ruins, food always on the menu, and oh the shopping.

More on everything later. I need to get the pictures loaded to the computer. Umm, the mezcal production tour and tasting, the weavers studio demonstration, some many cool things!!!!