Mexico City - Basilicas of Guadalupe

The museum is just behind the old Basílica. It features religious artwork dating all the way back from the 17th c.

When the Old Basiclica sank ever deeper into the swampy subsoil and became dangerous it was replaced by the New Basilica, a modern structure of concrete and marble which was designed by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, architect of the National Museum of Anthropology, and consecrated in 1976. The spacious interior, which apart from the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe contains no statues or pictures, can accommodate a congregation of 20,000. An unusual feature is a "four-lane" conveyor-belt behind the high altar which automatically and smoothly conveys worshippers - many of them kneeling - past the statue of the Virgin.

According to legend the Virgin Mary appeared on December 9th 1531 to Juan Diego, a baptised Aztec, in the form of a dark-skinned Indian woman who charged him to ask the bishop to have a chapel built for her on a particular spot. Bishop Juan de Zumárraga did not believe the story and asked for proof. Thereupon the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego a second time on December 12th and caused roses to bloom on a bare hilltop, although it was then the season of drought. Juan Diego plucked the roses and took them to the bishop, but when he opened the folds of the cloak in which he had been carrying them it was seen to bear an image of the Virgin surrounded by a radiant halo. This, it is believed, is the miracle-working Image of the Virgin of Guadalupe which now hangs above the high altar in the New Basilica. Bishop de Zumárraga caused a shrine to be built on the Hill of Tepeyac, on the site of an earlier Aztec temple of the earth-mother Tonantzin. Soon the church and the Image of the Virgin began to attract large numbers of pilgrims; and even the Indians, who had been disillusioned with Christianity by the cruelties of the colonial regime, became more willing to accept the Christian faith. After being venerated for centuries as the patroness of the Indians and mestizos, the Virgin of Guadalupe was invoked in the struggle for Mexican independence, and in 1810 Miguel Hidalgo inscribed her image on the banner of the insurgents.

Pilgrimage Site

The Basilica is visited by many thousands of pilgrims throughout the year, but on December 12th, the anniversary of the Virgin's second apparition, the square in front of the church as well as the building itself is filled to overflowing. Between December 9th and 12th 1997 the pilgrims numbered some 5 million. The colourfully garbed dancers and mimes who are everywhere to be seen help to create an atmosphere of a great popular fiesta. The Virgin of Guadalupe is venerated by all classes of the Mexican population, and in addition draws pilgrims from many other countries in Latin America. These manifestations of popular faith have been called the "culto guadalupano", and it is a notable fact that many of its aspects lie outside the bounds of Catholic dogma and frequently show affinities with pre-Christian myths.

The Old Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was built in 1709 on the site of an earlier 16th c. church and several times altered since. The exterior is unremarkable, but the interior (now closed for safety reasons) is impressive, with its wide nave and the contrast between the white marble and the gilded ornamentation; it made an even deeper impression on the observer when it was thronged with pilgrims, imbued with the profound native piety of the ordinary Mexican.