The Construction of the San Francisco Church

Published August 19, 2022

By Luis Felipe Rodriguez

The first stones of the San Francisco church were laid on June 29, 1779. This event took place exactly 237 years after Fray Juan de San Miguel founded San Miguel along the Laja River in 1542, at a site known as San Miguel Viejo. In 1551, the community moved to the area of El Chorro, led by Fray Bernardo Cossin, and a few years later to its present location, under the guidance of Fray Ángel de Salcedo.

In a chronicle called the «Chichimeca News» some of these events were recorded. It is mentioned that the Franciscan fathers had «made a monastery in the town of San Miguel, where many people from Chichimecas to Guamares gathered, and other Otomi and Tarascan Indians settled with them…” This monastery was undoubtedly a modest structure, given the precarious conditions of the town.  In 1564, the mission became a parish, by order of the bishop of Quiroga.

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