Catedral de Tlaxcala

The Tlaxcala Cathedral is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. The head of the diocese of Tlaxcala, it's been so only since 1959, but in fact, long before Tlaxcala was subjected to the diocese of Puebla, it was the very first Roman Catholic Diocese established in the Americas. That diocese had been established in 1525 and this church dates from shortly after. In 2021, the church as named a UNESCO World Heritage site as an extension of the monasteries on the slopes of the Popocatépetl volcano. A Dominican, Julián Garcés, arrived from Spain in 1527, to take over the Franciscan monastery, and to hear establish the tiny Church of the Assumption.

In the 16th century the complex began to take the shape that we see today, with a main church, five side chapels, and the attached monastery which partly houses the Tlaxcala Regional Museum. It remains an outstanding historical structure that is loaded with important and rarely seen examples of religious art.

The church includes a single nave with the entrance facing west. The coffered ceiling is particularly celebrated. The five side chapels include, to the north, the Chapel of Saint Anthony, and to the south, those dedicated to the Third Order, the Holy Sepulchre, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Our Lord of Mercy. Of course, a sixth, open chapel is across the remaining first atrium, and facing the open chapel above the now mostly filled in second atrium. The bull ring, to the north of the open chapel area, now covers most of the land once reserved for preaching and converting the local people. It's a stark and resonant part of the city.

People visit the Cathedral to take in, if not a mass, then certainly for the incredible devotional art work. It's an architectural environment resplendent with memory and meaning even for the most secular among us. The cathedral stands atop the shaded and windswept Andador San Francisco, the parkway that leads up from the Plaza Xicohténcatl as it has for centuries. Making the climb, one is richly rewarded on every turn. And Tlaxcala takes on a revelatory air that is unforgettable even on the shortest and most cursory of visits.