Colonial Convents

One of my favourite things to do in Mexico is pueblear, which simply means to travel about from town to town. Over my travels and research trips I have visited several pueblos, and in a large portion of them one can still find former colonial convents erected by one of the three principal mendicant orders. These spaces represent more than just colonial domination and religious indoctrination, which religious friars and former generations of scholars called the “spiritual conquest”; they symbolize the cultural encounters, negotiations, and appropriations of colonial life in which both groups acculturated customs, ideas, material culture, and language from each other. Some of these buildings are in utter decay today, a few have been transformed into museums or other state buildings, and at least one has become a Protestant church. My goal in these photo essays is to capture the larger partnerships of colonial life through some of the most impressive symbols of Spanish colonial rule.

ACOLMAN, ESTADO DE MÉXICO, MEXICO (AUGUSTINIAN CONVENT)

Monastery Church and Cloister, 2004.

Arched Gate, 2004.

Bell Tower, 2004.

Crenellated Wall, 2004.

Atrium, 2004.

Open Chapel, 2004.

Back of Convent, 2004.

Cloister Corridor, 2004.

Doorway, 2004.

Fresco of Jesus Crucified, 2004.

Friar’s Cell, 2004.

Crenellated Gate, 2004.

Cloister, 2004.

Atrium Cross, 2004.

ACTOPAN, HIDALGO, MEXICO (AUGUSTINIAN CONVENT)

Fresco, Open Chapel, 2004.

Bell Tower, 2004.

Atrium Cross, 2004.

Flames of Hell, Open Chapel, 2004.

Crenellations, 2004.

Monastery Church, 2004.

Conquistador, Open Chapel, 2004.

Arcade, 2004.

Open Chapel, 2004.

Open Chapel, 2004.

HUEJOTZINGO, PUEBLA, MEXICO (FRANCISCAN CONVENT)

Fresco, The “Twelve,” 2004.

Monastery Church, 2004.

Arcade, 2004.

Cloister Corridor, 2004.

Fresco, Francis of Assisi, 2004.

Bell Tower, 2004.

Fresco, The Virgin Mary, 2004.

Cloister, 2004.

Atrium Cross, 2004.

Refectory, 2004.

Arched Gate, 2004.

Cloister Fountain, 2004.

Posa Chapel, 2004.

IZAMAL, YUCATÁN, MEXICO (FRANCISCAN CONVENT)

Gate, 2004.

Diego de Landa, 2004.

Atrium Arcade, 2004

Bathroom Sign, 2004.

Bell Tower, 2004.

Monastery Church, 2004.

Atrium Arcade, 2004.

Fresco, Santa Barbara, 2004.

Gate, 2004.

Atrium Arcade, 2004.

Monastery Complex, 2004.

Atrium, 2004.

Cloister, 2004.

Back of Monastery Church, 2004.

MALINALCO, ESTADO DE MÉXICO, MEXICO (AUGUSTINIAN CONVENT)

Monastery Church, 2006.

Bell Tower, 2006.

Atrium Cross, 2006.

Fresco, Augustinian Friar, 2007.

Arcade, 2006.

Interior of Monastery Church, 2006.

Atrium Walls, 2006

Corridor of Arcade, 2007

Fresco, 2006.

Arched Gate, 2006.

Façade, 2006.

Cloister, 2006.

Corridor Fresco, Jesus Crucified, 2006.

Cloister Fresco, 2006.

Cloister Corridor, 2006.

Corridor Fresco, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, 2006.

Fresco, 2006.

Corridor Fresco, 2006.

OAXACA, OAXACA, MEXICO (DOMINICAN CONVENT)

Monastery Church, 2008.

Atrium, 2008.

Maguey, 2008.

Sun Dial, 2008.

Fresco, Saint Peter, 2008.

Monastery Church, 2008.

Cloister, 2008.

Francisco Burgoa, 2008.

Back of Monastery, 2008.

Cloister Corridor, 2008.

Fresco, Dominican Friar, 2008.

Biblioteca Francisco de Burgoa, 2008. Photo by Jason Dyck.

Cloister Fountain, 2008.

Stairway, 2008.

Monastery Complex, 2008.

Cloister, 2008.

Fresco, Dominican Friars, 2008.

SAN ANDRÉS CALPAN, PUEBLA, MEXICO (FRANCISCAN CONVENT)

Bell Tower, 2004.

Arcade, 2004.

Monastery Church, 2004.

Posa Chapel, 2004.

Monastery Complex, 2004.

Arched Gate, 2004.

Facade, 2004.

Arched Gate, 2004

SAN NICOLÁS OXTOTICPAC, ESTADO DE MÉXICO, MEXICO (FRANCISCAN CONVENT)

Monastery Complex, 2004.

Monastery Church, 2004.

Atrium Cross, 2004.

Arched Gate, 2004.

Cloister, 2004.

Posa Chapel, 2004.

Fresco, San Cristóbal, 2004.

Fresco, Church, 2004.

Garden, 2004.

Arcade, 2004.

Baptismal Font, 2004.

Cloister Corridor, 2004.

SANTA MARÍA ATLIHUETZIA, TLAXCALA, MEXICO (FRANCISCAN CONVENT)

Aspe, 2006.

Monastery Church, 2006.

Interior of Monastery Church, 2006.

Arches, 2006.

Fresco, 2006.

Pulpit, 2006.

Interior of Monastery Church, 2006.

Open Chapel, 2006.

Choir, 2006.

Doorway, 2006.

Open Chapel, 2006.

TECAMACHALCO, PUEBLA, MEXICO (FRANCISCAN CONVENT)

Cloister, 2004.

Interior of Monastery Church, 2004.

Facade, 2004.

Monastery Church, 2004.

Franciscan Coat of Arms, 2004

Arcade, 2004.

Bell Tower, 2004.

Bell Tower, 2004.

Cloister, 2004.