More From the Plaza of the Three Cultures

In my last post I wrote about my visit to Mexico City's Plaza of the Three Cultures... a site which includes Aztec ruins, a 16th century Spanish colonial church and 20th century apartment blocks.

It was the site where the Aztecs made their last stand against the Spanish conquerors 500 years ago last Friday.  While I was there a group of "concheros", dressed in pre-Hispanic attire, were dancing.

The Church of Santiago (St. James the Apostle, the patron saint of Spain) was part of a Franciscan monastery that was begun in 1535 using stones from the surrounding Aztec temples.  The present church was completed in 1609.

The interior of the church is quite spartan in appearance.  During the civil war in the mid-19th century between liberals and conservatives, anti-clerical forces looted the church and stripped it of much of its decoration.

Only the central section of the main altarpiece survived.  It show St. James on horseback leading the Spanish against the Aztecs.

Originally the walls of the church were painted with native designs.  When the final renovation of the church occurred in 1609, these designs were deemed too pagan.  A large painting of St. Christopher over the side door covered over some of them.

On the triangular spaces at the top of the columns supporting the church's dome, there were painted stucco sculptures of the four evangelists and the creatures that represent them.  Two of the images are visible...

 St. Mark and the winged lion

St. Matthew and the angel

The surrender of the Aztecs in 1521 was not to only tragic event to occur here at the Plaza of the Three Cultures.  On October 2, 1968, a large group of student protestors gathered here.  The Mexican military fired upon them.  Between 300 and 400 students were murdered and over 1000 were injured.  A monument on the plaza was dedicated to the victims on the 25th anniversary of the massacre.

Tragedy struck again on September 19, 1985, when Mexico City was struck by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake.  Many of the apartment buildings surrounding the plaza were severely damaged, including one thirteen story building which completely collapsed.  The exact death toll will never be known.