An Unusual Church

While walking around the downtown area last week, I went by a church that I had passed many times before.  The church has an unusual history.  It is officially called "La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" (The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe).  However, everyone calls it "La Iglesia del Buen Tono", making it the only church in the country, perhaps in the world, named after a tobacco company.

There was a convent on this site in colonial times.  It was abandoned after the passage of the Reform Laws of the 19th century which confiscated Church land.  The property was eventually purchased by Ernesto Pugibet, a French-born businessman who in 1884 had founded the very successful "Buen Tono" cigarette factory.  Pugibet needed to build a larger factory.  He tore down the convent building and built his new factory here.  The old convent church still remained, but Pugibet tore that down also so as to build a new and grander church for his factory employees.  It was dedicated in 1912.

On previous occasions when I passed by here, the church doors were closed, but this time they were open.  I decided to take a look inside.

The interior definitely does not look like a typical Mexican church.  The style is described as eclectic, although my first impression was that it looked vaguely Byzantine.

However, the most distinctive feature of the church are the lovely stained-glass windows which were imported from France.

The pipe organ at the rear of the church was manufactured in the United Kingdom.

It was an unplanned but interesting stop in the city's historic center.