Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City: 240 years in the making, built with the stones of a demolished Aztec temple
Sul lato nord dello Zócalo, nel centro storico di Città del Messico, la Cattedrale Metropolitana sorge sul sito dell’antico recinto sacro azteco, nei pressi del Templo Mayor: la sua costruzione iniziò nel 1573 e si concluse solo nel 1813, dopo 240 anni di lavori, utilizzando in parte pietre recuperate dalla demolizione dello stesso Templo Mayor e di altri templi aztechi. Il progetto originario dell’architetto Claudio de Arciniega si ispirava alle cattedrali gotiche spagnole; dopo l’alluvione del 1629, Juan Gómez de Trasmonte completò gli interni, con la cattedrale consacrata nel 1667, mentre le torri campanarie, la facciata principale e la cupola furono realizzate tra il 1787 e il 1793 da José Damián Ortiz de Castro, morto prima del completamento, e portate a termine in stile neoclassico da Manuel Tolsá a partire dal 1791. Il risultato è un edificio che fonde stili diversi accumulati nel corso di due secoli e mezzo di cantiere. Fin dalla sua costruzione, la cattedrale sprofonda gradualmente a causa del terreno argilloso e lacustre di Città del Messico, l’antico letto del lago Texcoco: negli anni Novanta l’edificio era così inclinato da essere inserito nel 1998 nella lista dei monumenti a rischio del World Monuments Fund, e tra il 1993 e il 1998 gli ingegneri intervennero scavando pozzi sotto le parti meno affondate della struttura e inserendo pali di cemento, per far sì che sprofondassero alla stessa velocità del resto dell’edificio e riportarlo in piano: la cattedrale fu tolta dalla lista nel 2000. All’interno spicca l’Altare dei Re, un’imponente pala d’altare dorata in stile churrigueresco realizzata da Jerónimo de Balbas tra il 1718 e il 1725, dorata nel 1736-37, alta circa 25 metri. Dal 1987 la cattedrale fa parte del Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO “Centro storico di Città del Messico e Xochimilco”, che la definisce esplicitamente la più grande cattedrale del continente americano.
About the Metropolitan Cathedral
On the north side of the Zócalo, in the historic centre of Mexico City, the Metropolitan Cathedral stands on the site of the former Aztec sacred precinct, near the Templo Mayor; construction began in 1573 and did not conclude until 1813, after 240 years of work, using stone partly salvaged from the demolition of the Templo Mayor itself and other Aztec temples. The original design by architect Claudio de Arciniega drew on Spanish Gothic cathedral models; following the flood of 1629, Juan Gómez de Trasmonte completed the interior, with the cathedral consecrated in 1667, while the bell towers, main facade and dome were built between 1787 and 1793 by José Damián Ortiz de Castro, who died before completion, and finished in Neoclassical style by Manuel Tolsá from 1791 onward. The result is a building that layers together the accumulated architectural styles of two and a half centuries of construction. Since its earliest years, the cathedral has gradually sunk into Mexico City’s soft, clay-rich lakebed soil, the former bed of Lake Texcoco; by the 1990s the building had tilted so severely that it was placed on the World Monuments Fund’s endangered list in 1998, and between 1993 and 1998 engineers stabilised it by excavating shafts beneath its less-sunken sections and inserting concrete piles, forcing those areas to settle at a matching rate and levelling the structure; the cathedral was removed from the endangered list in 2000. Inside, the Altar of the Kings stands out, an imposing gilded Churrigueresque altarpiece created by Jerónimo de Balbás between 1718 and 1725 and gilded in 1736-37, rising roughly 25 metres. Since 1987, the cathedral has formed part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco,” which explicitly identifies it as the largest cathedral on the American continent.
Key facts
- 1573-1813: 240 years of construction, on the site of the Aztec sacred precinct
- Built partly with stone salvaged from the demolished Templo Mayor
- Multiple architects across two and a half centuries: Arciniega, Gómez de Trasmonte, Ortiz de Castro, Tolsá
- 1993-1998: major engineering work to stabilise the sinking, tilting structure
- Altar of the Kings: a gilded Churrigueresque altarpiece by Jerónimo de Balbás, c. 25 metres tall
- 1987: becomes part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco”
History
The Metropolitan Cathedral’s construction directly atop the former Aztec sacred precinct, using stone quarried from the Templo Mayor itself, embodies one of the most literal instances anywhere of colonial religious architecture rising from the physical remains of the civilisation it supplanted. Its 240-year construction across multiple architectural generations, and the decades-long modern engineering campaign required to halt its uneven sinking into Mexico City’s ancient lakebed, together make the cathedral as much a monument to sustained human effort as to any single architectural moment.
What you see
The cathedral’s grey stone facade layers Gothic-inspired origins beneath later Baroque, Churrigueresque and Neoclassical additions, its twin bell towers and central dome the work of architects spanning nearly two and a half centuries. Inside, the gilded Altar of the Kings dominates the sanctuary, while two of the largest 18th-century organs in the Americas and the Chapel of Relics add further layers to one of the richest colonial-era religious interiors anywhere in the hemisphere.
Practical information
- Opening hours: generally open daily with seasonal variation; free admission; check current hours before visiting
- Address: Zócalo, Historic Centre, Mexico City, Mexico
Getting there
The Metropolitan Cathedral stands on the north side of the Zócalo, in the heart of Mexico City’s historic centre, easily reached via Zócalo metro station. GPS: 19.4344° N, 99.1331° W.
Nearby
- Templo Mayor — the excavated ruins of the Aztec temple, adjacent
- Zócalo — Mexico City’s main square, directly in front of the cathedral
- National Palace — the seat of the Mexican presidency, on the same square
Sources
- Wikipedia — “Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral” (en.wikipedia.org)
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre — “Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco” (whc.unesco.org)
- Environmental Earth Sciences (Springer) — study on the building stones of Tenochtitlán and the Metropolitan Cathedral
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