Near one of the exits of the Pino Suárez Metro station, I saw this small church which I do not believe I have noticed before. It's called the "Capilla de San Lucas" (Chapel of St. Luke).
The door was open, so I went inside. Although the painting around the mural appears to be a recent addition, the wooden beams of the ceiling would seem to indicate that the chapel is very old.
There was a lady at a counter near the entrance selling religious objects. I asked her how old the church was, but she didn't know. So, I had to do some research afterwards on the computer.
In the 17th century, this neighborhood was the slaughterhouse district. The butchers and meatcutters were not welcome in the nearby Church of San Miguel Arcángel, so a new parish was established here in 1690. The chapel was dedicated to St. Luke, the patron saint of butchers and was originally called San Lucas Cuezcontitlan de los Carniceros. (Cuezcontitlan was the Aztec name for the neighborhood, and "carnicero" means butcher.) The church was rebuilt between 1698 and 1701 with money donated by the local butchers.
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