city at night

city at night

Monday, December 29, 2014

Another Quiz

Pictured below is a colonial plaza in the historic center of Mexico City.  Can you name it?


BONUS QUESTIONS:

What religious organization once had its headquarters on one side of this plaza?

On another side of the plaza is a colonnade where a group of people have been practicing their unique profession since colonial times.  Can you name their occupation?

¡Buena suerte!

UPDATE...

Joan, who correctly answered my two previous quizzes, is on a roll.  She identified the photo as the Plaza de Santo Domingo, named after the church of the same name which dominates the square.

Now can anyone answer the bonus questions???

UPDATE...

Before I could even finish writing the above update, Joan attempted to answer the bonus questions.  She correctly answered the second question. 

The colonnade along the west side of the plaza has long been known as the "portal" of the scribes.  In days past when much of the population was illiterate, people would go to the scribes to have letters written or documents filled out.

Since most of today's population is literate, there is no longer a demand for the professional letter writers.  Today the "portal" is filled with merchants who print business cards and invitations.


 
 
 
One bonus question remains to be answered.  What religious organization once had its headquarters on one side of the plaza?
 
 
UPDATE...
 
 
Joan correctly answered the first bonus question.  It is true, as Joan pointed out, that the Church and Monastery of Santo Domingo were the seat of the Dominican order in Mexico, but the religious institution that I was looking for was the Inquisition.  The Spanish brought with them the dreaded Church tribunal to root out heresy in their New World colonies.  The headquarters of the Inquisition in Mexico were located on the Plaza of Santo Domingo... a logical place, since the Dominicans were in charge of the tribunal. 
 

 
 
When Mexico won its independence from Spain, the Inquisition was abolished.  The building became the School of Medicine of the University of Mexico (UNAM).  In the 1950s the University moved to its new campus, but UNAM still owns the building.  It now contains the Museum of Medicine.  More recently, a second museum, the Museum of the Inquisition, was established in the building.  I visited that museum last year, and although it has some interesting information about the Inquisition, I found the exhibits to be quite tacky, like something out of a wax museum.
 
 
Congratulations to Joan!
  

14 comments:

  1. Plaza de Santo Domingo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OR! is it the Dominicans?
    Joan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are correct about the scribes! It is true that the Church of Santo Domingo and its monastery were the seat of the Dominican order in Mexico City. However that is not the religious organization that I was looking for. By the way, the Franciscans were centered a few blocks away at the Church of San Francisco on Madero Street.

      Delete
  3. Hmmmmm
    There's the Palace of the Inquisition...
    There's a convent...

    ReplyDelete
  4. YES it was me!
    Fun quiz again!
    Joan

    ReplyDelete
  5. For some reason I wasn't equating religious
    organization with the Inquisition.
    Joan

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would have got this one! Alas, I am too late. I've been there countless times as it's on the Ciclothon circuit. One upon a time, I'd have a good value breakfast on a Sunday in that restaurant in the terracotta fronted building adjoining the church. Happy memories!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have a number of readers who know Mexico well (most notably you and Kim) who probably know the answers to my occasional quizzes. But Joan is very quick to respond, and is the undefeated champion.
      Better luck next time!

      Delete
  7. Well. I'm too late. So instead of answering (which I could have done correctly), I'll simply quote Monty Python.

    No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!!

    Saludos,

    Kim G
    Boston, MA
    Where we are having positively Ohio-like weather, with a dawn at -2°F and a high somewhere around 17°.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I figured that both you and Gary knew the answer.
    Saludos,
    Bill
    Oaxaca, Mexico, where I was walking around in shirt sleeves today. (although it was quite chilly this evening).

    ReplyDelete