Sanctuary of Atotonilco, the Sistine Chapel of Mexico

Published April 15th, 2022

The Sanctuary of Jesus Nazareno located in Atotonilco has earned the name of the Sistine Chapel of Mexico.

This is due to the beautiful murals that were painted on the ceilings and walls of this temple located 17 kilometers from San Miguel de Allende, approximately 20 minutes by car.

This church was built between 1740 and 1748 by an initiative of the devotee Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro, who thought that this place could be a house for spiritual exercises.

The temple has a main nave, sacristy, seven chapels, and six dressing rooms; the murals that adorn the ceiling and walls were painted by a native of Querétaro named Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre, during a period that lasted 30 years.

In 2008, the Sanctuary of Atotonilco was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Its architecture and decoration testify to the influence of the doctrine of St. Ignatius of Loyola: UNESCO.

As a curious fact, it is here where the priest Miguel Hidalgo took the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Outside the Sanctuary there are typical handicrafts of the area.

Murals
The murals of the Sanctuary of Jesus Nazareno are colorful and didactic from the 18th century.

They are considered the masterpiece of Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre. For years they remained in oblivion until Unesco granted them the category they deserved.

Initially, Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro ordered a construction that sought to be similar to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. But the work became the “Sistine Chapel” of Mexico.

This site is part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro or Ruta de la Plata, which was in operation between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

There are more than 60 sites distributed in several states of the country where silver and other minerals were transported. This route is also a World Heritage Site.

Chapels
The sanctuary of Atotonilco is integrated with seven chapels that were built in several stages of its history.

The chapels of the Holy Sepulcher; of the Calvary; of Bethlehem and the Nativity; the chapel of the Cenacle and the Virgin of Solitude; of the patron saint of San Miguel de Allende, the Virgin of Loreto; of the Rosary; and of the Purisima.

Experts say that his work is influenced by Flemish art and also has elements of indigenous art.

The murals cover about 2,500 square meters of surface covered with different techniques: “fresco, tempera, on canvas and amazingly, on silver”.

Independence Route
The Sanctuary of Jesus Nazareno de Atotonilco is also part of the Independence Route.

Legend has it that Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was the priest of this church for a time and that from there he took an oil painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which he used as a banner to summon the people to fight for Independence in the early morning of September 16, 1810.

However, Jacinto Barrera Bassols, INAH researcher, writes in his book, “Pesquisa sobre un estandarte. Historia de una pieza de museo”, that this banner did not exist.

It was an invention of an archbishop to blame Hidalgo for “fautoría (using religious symbols for despicable purposes), one of the most punished ecclesiastical crimes”.

With information from INAH and EL UNIVERSAL Destinations

The images used in this content were taken from the Facebook page @GuanajuatoMexico