Sagrario, Mexico City

1749-1769

Rodríguez, Lorenzo (1704-1774)

Mexico City, MEX

The Sagrario, which stands next to the cathedral of Mexico City, was built as a parish church for the neighborhood around the Zócalo. Constructed ca. 1749-1769, the Sagrario takes the form of a Greek cross. This form is unusual for Spanish America, as most often the Latin cross was the model for church buildings. The columns of its elaborate exterior façade, known as estípites, are often called Mexican Baroque in style, and were imitated widely throughout New Spain.

Unlike the cathedral of Mexico City which stands next door, the décor of the Sagrario’s façade is concentrated in the center of the building, echoing the elaborate retables (retablos) found within. It features columns with a distinctive geometric form, known as estípitecolumns. They were thought to mirror the form of the human body and, although introduced from Europe, became a hallmark of Mexican architecture of the 18th century. The dark red stone of the undecorated part of the façade is tezontle, a local, volcanic stone that was used throughout the Aztec empire and in Mexico City in numerous colonial buildings.

Lorenzo Rodríguez is credited as the architect of the Sagrario. He was trained in Andulusia, and drew his inspiration from a number of European buildings. The Sagrario, unlike the neighboring Cathedral, which had financial support from the Crown, relied largely upon individual donors, local alms and lottery tickets sold in Mexico City.

The building is constructed primarily of red tezontle stone and a gray stone called cantera. Because it was built upon marshy ground (all of central Mexico City rests upon a lake), stakes were driven into the ground to reinforce the building, with a masonry platform built atop to carry the weight of the walls and columns.

The Sagrario stands at the heart of Mexico City, next to the metropolitan Cathedral and facing onto the Zócalo. Lying beneath the Sagrario are the ruins of an Aztec temple and aross the street are the ruins of the Templo Mayor, a vital religious center for the Aztecs in pre-Hispanic times. In the late 20th century, both the structural support and façade of the Sagrario were the focus of restoration and engineering projects.

In Spanish America, the wealthy clustered in the center of cities. As Mexico City was one of the richest and largest cities in the Americas, and parish churches were an expression of communal identity, it is not surprising that the parish church of its leading citizens would be as imposing and architecturally innovative as the Sagrario.

Byron Hamann

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