The Cathedral of Chihuahua, or the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross and St Francis of Assisi, is
the main ecclesiastical building of the Catholic Church in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico.
It is one of
the better examples of colonial construction in northern Mexico and dates from 1725. The cathedral is also the
see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chihuahua.
On the left side of the cathedral is a smaller sanctuary. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel, of baroque and rococo
design, is reached by a door outside the south transept.
The Sacred Art Museum is located in the
crypt. It displays a collection of pieces from the Colonial era. This collection is primarily the very large
oleos sent to the most important cathedrals.
Also, here is a chair built by a local artisan which was
used by Pope John Paul II when he visited Chihuahua in 1990.
Plaza Mayor in the morning.
The Angel of Liberty was built in 2003 representing the freedom of all
Mexicans, especially Chihuahua's people. It was inaugurated during the Independence Day festivities on September
15 of that same year. The angel has a sword with a laser light at the tip, and is capable of rotating 360 over
its axis.
The state capital, Chihuahua, Lady of the Desert, was founded by Don Antonio Deza y Ulloa at the confluence of
the Chuviscar and Sacramento rivers in the name of God and the King of Spain in 1709.
Its renowned
Cathedral whose construction lasted almost 100 years was built on the wealth from the Santa Eulalia mines.
The facade is interesting in that it involves the use of solomonic columns which were not widely used in New
Spain at the time. It has an octagonal window that was shipped from Germany and is considered a fine specimen of
the glass-makers art. In addition, the front contains a collection of monuments celebrating the twelve apostles,
with a clock above, crowned with the sculpture of an angel that was added late in the 19th century.
The nave is divided from the ambulatories by arches which support the massive ceiling, and has a baptistry chapel
on the right just inside from the entrance.
The chancel contains an unusual double altar, in which a smaller altar of Carrara marble was incorporated into
the existing larger one, after the church was built.
The nave closeup
The Cathedral's Italian chandeliers
The Government Palace with the Angel of Liberty in the background.
Originally, a Jesuit College stood
on the site, which also occupied the area to the north where the former Federal Palace of Chihuahua now stands.
However, the building was razed in 1878, and the new Government Palace was begun in 1882.
The palace is designed and decorated in the neoclassic style, with the first floor of the Doric order, the second
of the Ionic and the third a hybrid style. The Patio Central was decorated with a sculpture which represents the
four races of humanity.
The city of Chihuahua was an important setting for the tumultuous years of the Independence movement; the priest
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the "Founding Father of Mexico", remained a prisoner in what is now the Federal
Palace.
He was executed on June 11th 1811, at this spot in the central patio of the Government Palace,
where there is a permanently lit flame of liberty.
Close up of one of several stained glass windows in the palace.
Mary and Mom pose on the balcony under a pinata - decorating the palace for Christmas.
During the 1910 Revolution General Francisco Villa commanded the "Division del Norte". The army maintains the
Museum of the Revolution at the Quinta Luz, also known as Pancho Villa's house. In the museum are the personal
belongings of General Villa, and historical documents.
Federal troops in a charge against Villa
Pancho Villa helped defeat the federal army of D�az in favor
of Madero in 1911, most famously in the first Battle of Ciudad Ju�rez, which was viewed by Americans sitting on
the top of railroad boxcars in El Paso, Texas.
In 1920, Villa negotiated peace with new President and ended his revolutionary activity. He went into
semi-retirement, with a detachment of 50 men for protection, at the hacienda of El Canutillo.
He was
assassinated three years later (1923) in Parral, Chihuahua, in his car. The assassins were never arrested,
although a Durango politician, Jes�s Salas Barraza, publicly claimed credit. While there is some circumstantial
evidence that Obreg�n or Plutarco El�as Calles were behind the killing, Villa made many enemies over his lifetime,
who would have had motives to murder him
Victorio was a warrior and chief of the Chihenne band of the Chiricahua Apaches. By the early 1850's he was
considered a Chief in his band and in his twenties, he began to ride with Geronimo, Nana, and other Apache
leaders making many raids into northern Mexico. In 1862, he joined with Mangas Coloradas in making raids not
only into Mexico but also upon the encroaching white settlers.
In October 1880 while moving along the
Rio Grande in northern Mexico, Victorio and his band were surrounded and killed by soldiers of the Mexican army
at Tres Castillos, in the municipality of Coyame, Mexican state of Chihuahua.
While near the Cathedral a small Christmas parade went by. These two in the back of the truck are Mary and
Joseph.
The baroque Casa Quinta Gamero now the Regional Museum of Chihuahua.
Interesting objects from the
local Culture are on exhibition in its rooms, some that were found in the archaeological zone of Casas Grandes;
along with paintings and sculptures made by local artists and a collection of art nouveau objects that adorn
every corner of the house built between 1907 and 1910.
Stained glass in the Gamero house.
Beyond its artistic treasures, the seat of the museum, which
belonged to Manuel Gameros, a wealthy miner of the region who could not occupy it as he had to flee the country
at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution, is an architectonic beauty in itself. Later the building would have
multiple uses, until 1968, when it became property of the University of Chihuahua.
The sun sets at the Dancing Fountains with our hotel, Palacio del Sol, in the background.
Viva Chihuahua!!
Tony leading us in a vocal rendition of Viva Chihuahua!!
We chorused Viva
Chihuahua each night with the various entertainers.