- Santo Domingo (Mexico City)
Santo Domingo in
Mexico City refers to the Church of Santo Domingo and its Plaza, also called Santo Domingo. Both are located three blocks north of theMexico City Metropolitan Cathedral following Republica de Brasil Street with Belisario Dominguez Street separating the two. cite book |title= Lonely Planet Mexico City |last=Noble |first=Joshn |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2000 |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |location=Oakland, CA |isbn=1 86450 087 5 |pages=113-114 |url= ]The Church
Officially known as the Señor de la Expiración Chapel,cite book |title=Mexico City Historic Center |last=Galindo |first=Carmen |authorlink= |coauthors=Magdelena Galindo |year=2002 |publisher=Ediciones Nueva Guia |location=Mexico City |isbn=968 5437 29 7 |pages=114-115 |url= ] the church is located on the north side of Belisario Dominguez and faces the plaza. It is all that is left from the first
convent to be established inNew Spain . The monastery that the church used to be part of was destroyed during the mid 19th century anti-clerical movement.It isBaroque architecture made of pink stone, begun in1717 and finished in1736 . It is the third church to stand on this spot. The first church was built with the convent, and the second church was built between1556 and1571 .It is decorated on the east side with stone figures of
Saint Dominic andSaint Francis . Their arms are intertwined and shown to be literally holding up the Church of Letrán] .The front facade has twelve columns around the main entrance, with Saint Francis andSaint Augustine on the first floor. On the second floor, a stone relief depicts Saint Dominic kneeling as he receives the keys of heaven fromSaint Peter and theEpistles fromSaint Paul as theHoly Spirit rises above the group. In the center at the top is abas relief of theAssumption located between two windows that light the choir area.Inside, the main
altarpiece isneoclassical and the work ofManuel Tolsá . The altar to the left of thetransept is dedicated to theVirgin of Covadonga . On a wall in the wide central area, there is a largeniche containing the image of the Virgin Mary. Above this is a sculpture depicting the scene at theCalvary . Higher still is an oil painting of the Coronation of Mary and at the crest is the cross of theBattle of Covandonga between two windows. Each of the lateral windows has two oil paintings decorating them and finished with thecoat-of-arms ofCastille as well as the emblem of the Dominican order. This area is completed with the reliefs of saints and the carvings ofcherub s. At the right of the transept, there is theVirgin del Camino altarpiece created byAlonso López de Herrera . The altarpiece contains figures called the "Descent," "Saint Dominic in Soriano," and gilded statues of the martyrs Saint Peter andVicente Ferrer .Next to it is the neo-Baroque Rosario Chapel which dates from
1946 .The Plaza
To the south of the church is Plaza San Domingo. It is flanked to the west by the Portal de Evangelistas, which is a Tuscan colonnade with round arches. Scribes with typewriters and antique printing machines work in this Portal. Scribes offer their services to illiterate clients, often offering services similar to that of lawyers, counselors, and financial consultants. A statue of
Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez , a heroine of theMexican War of Independence stands in a fountain in the middle of the plaza. It was sculpted byEnrique Alcati .Unfortunately, this area is also very well-known for the falsification of documents. According to the intelligence division of the Policia Judicial of the Distrito Federal, in addition to the 242 print shops that operate legally in this zone, there have noted 614 cases of printers set up to falsify documents in the various apartments and other living quarters that surround this area. Most of these are located on La Plaza 23 de Mayo, República de Cuba, República de Chile an Justo Sierra Streets. cite news |first=Mario |last=Torres |title= Ubican centrod de falsificacion en Santo Domingo|url=http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/503510.html |format= |work= |publisher=Televisa |location=Mexico City |date=2006-01-12 |accessdate=2008-10-05 |language=Spanish ]
References
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