The Stunning Iglesia de Santo Domingo, Mexico City

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Just a few blocks walk from Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral you’ll find the Iglesia de Santo Domingo (Church of Santo Domingo) which dates back to 1556. It was one of the first monasteries to be established in New Spain after the Dominicans (an order of the Catholic Church founded in 1216 by the Spanish priest Saint Dominic) arrived in 1526. The original church was rebuilt two separate times with the current church having been designed by acclaimed Spanish architect Pedro de Arrieta and built in the Mexican Baroque style from 1717 and finished in 1736.

I had walked past this very church when me and my wife visited Mexico City in 2015 but on this most recent trip, I figured I’d stop in and have a look – and boy was I surprised by what I found. It’s an absolutely stunning church featuring some remarkable altarpieces. I’m just gonna let the photographs do the talking – enjoy…

The front facade of the church is covered in tezontle, a blood-colored volcanic stone, and the portal is made mostly of cantera, a white/grey stone. Once inside, behold the stunning main altarpiece, the work of Manuel Tolsá (a prolific Neoclassical architect and sculptor in Spain and Mexico).

This last photograph of the church was taken back in 2015 when I just walked past it, unaware of the beauty it held inside. Fortunately in 2019, I decided to take a peek inside and it turned out to be one of the biggest surprises from my trip. If you happen to find yourself in Mexico City’s historic district, don’t pass up a visit to this remarkable church. You can thank me afterwards…