Huejotzingo - Convent of San Francisco

The Convent of San Francisco de Huejotzingo, built by Father Juan de Alameda and Toribio de Alcazar between 1529 and 1570, is one of the oldest and finest in New Spain.

On the way to the convent we first come to the atrium, which is entered by a broad flight of steps and a doorway with three Plateresque arches. In the middle stands a carved stone cross, and at the four corners are posas (processional chapels) which are among the finest of the kind in Mexico; with their pyramidal roofs and their pattern of ornamentation they are in the Spanish-Plateresque tradition. Note the arms of the Franciscan order and the alfiz (hood-mould framing a doorway), here usually in the form of a Franciscan rope-girdle - a characteristic of the Mudéjar style. The façade of the typical fortified church is decorated in Spanish-Plateresque style with columns and symbols of the order. The framing of the north doorway (now walled-up) is a fine example of colonial-Plateresque: here again the doorway arch is enclosed by an alfiz and the exuberantly but harmoniously ornamented façade bears the arms of the Franciscans. The triangular merlons, with openings, of the battlements are found only at Huejotzingo.

In the spacious nave of the church, with its magnificent Gothic ribbed vaulting, will be seen a large four-part retablo decorated with fourteen statues (1586), another fine example of the Plateresque tradition. Its seven oil paintings are by the Flemish artist Simón Pereyns, who came to New Spain in 1566. Some remains of the frescos which once covered the walls can still be seen. The wall at the entrance to the sacristy has Mudéjar ornamentation.

The convent is entered through a door on the right-hand side of the church. In the porch is the Trinity Chapel, adjoining which is the cloister. The friezes in the corridors and cells are in Renaissance style. The interesting frescos include representations of the Immaculate Conception, the arrival of the first twelve Franciscans in New Spain in 1524 (Sala de Profundis) and scenes from the life of St Francis.