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Enkidu Summer Conference: Storytelling, Memories and Identity
Constructions II Mexico
City 28 July - 1 August, 2010
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About the Church Saint Hippolytus of Rome (San Hipólito) The Spanish invaders took
Mexico-Tenochtitlan on 13 August 1521, the day when the Roman Catholic Church
celebrates Saint Hippolytus of Rome (San
Hipólito). Saint Hippolytus was therefore chosen as the saint of the
city. A Church to his honour was erected close to the market place that soon
was to become the Alameda Central, the central park of Mexico City. The park
as such was laid out as a public space in 1592, during the reign of the
viceroy Luis de Velasco. In 1566 a hospital for the mentally ill adjacent to
the church, quite revolutionary in its time and the first of its kind
anywhere in the Americas. The hospital was also dedicated to Saint Hippolytus. The current extravagant Baroque
façade of the church and the bell tower were completed in 1739. The façade
was build in the traditional, volcanic stone tezontle, which characterize
many of the monumental colonial edifices in Central Mexico. The decor with
its Moorish style may resemble Seville, but it was constructed by Nahua
craftsmen and a closer look reveal also indigenous influences. However, it was not Saint Hippolytus, but another
saint who made the church dear to the local people and a major pilgrimage
location. Shortly after the conquest, an image of Saint Judas Thaddeus was placed on the main altar, replacing, or
perhaps rather masking, a pre-conquest local deity. In the
Roman Catholic Church he is the patron saint of desperate cases and hospitals
are often dedicated to him. As a curiosity perhaps, it could be mentioned
that Saint Judas Thaddeus is the patron saint of the Chicago Police
Department. Besides, he is the saint of the homeless, but also of drug traficants.
His official Holyday is the 28th of October, but in fact the 28th
of every month has become a major celebration to his honor in Mexico City |
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