User:Nancystodd/Church WIP

The Convent Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán is a Roman Catholic conventual church under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Province of Santiago of Mexico of the Dominican Order and part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Puebla de los Angeles. The patron saint of the church is the archangel Michael. The church is located in Puebla's historic centre, an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. This church and surrounding area, once part of the Dominican convent of the same name, is notable for housing two other important historic sites, the Mercado Guadalupe Victoria, known popularly as "La Victoria", and the Chapel of the Rosary (Capilla del Rosario, an example of New Spanish Baroque, considered in its time to be the "eighth wonder of the world".

History
The Order of the Preachers or Dominican Order arrived in Mexico in 1526, making it the second catholic order in Mexico. By April 1534, Puebla already had a dominican vicar in residence. That same year, Fray Julian Garcés was named the first bishop of Tlaxcala, based in Puebla, and building of the convent and a provisional church began. The convent was completed in 1535.

In 1571, construction began on the current church building, which was designed by architect Francisco Becerra, who also designed the Cathedral of Puebla. By 1611, the church was almost complete except for the tower and dome. According to an inscription on the temple floor, which reads: ACABOSE AÑO DE 1659 (finished on the year 1659), the church was officially completed in 1659, the year it was consecrated.

Although considered complete, work continued in the church past its completion date. The Chapel of the Rosario, which began construction in 1650, was inaugurated in 1690. The church's main altarpiece (retablo) was constructed between 1688 and 1692 and depicts aspects of Saint Dominic's life, his relationship with Saint Francis, and various Dominican saints. The temple's tower would not be started until 1801 and was never fully completed.

Almost two hundred years after the church was consecrated, construction was started on the Mercado Guadalupe Victoria (Guadalupe Victoria Market), located in the old gardens of the church. In 1861, due to the Mexico's [Reform Laws), ownership of the church was transferred to the Mexican government, which in turn demolished the remaining older buildings of the convent to expand the market. The market was inaugurated in 1913 and continued to function until 1984, when it finally closed. The iron structure of the market, complemented with tile and stone, was prefabricated and brought from France. This structure is all that remains of the market.

Architecture
The church ground plan is cruciform in the shape of a Latin cross, without a dome. The church houses three chapels. Two are located towards the atrium: the Chapel of the Mixtecs, which was a dedicated chapel for the Mixtec natives in their own language, and the Chapel of the Third Order. The third one, along the transept, is the aforementioned Chapel of the Rosary.

The Façade
The façade, made of gray quarry, is one of the few examples in Mexico of the purist style. It consists of two sections with a cornice. In the first section, next to the arch, two pairs of Tuscan columns are attached. The second second section has two pairs of smooth columns flanking a large square window and below it a statue of Saint Michael in marble. The cornice holds a statue of Saint Dominic in Tecáli marble and above the statue, the shield of the Dominican order, which is made up of a Greek cross surrounded by a rosary. It is flanked by two dogs with a torch in the snout and a globe between the feet, as a symbol of its founder.

The Portal of the Convent
At an angle to the facade of the temple is the old portal of the convent, an example of the most beautiful poblano baroque exterior style. It originally housed the Pilgrims Portal and inside, the Chapel of Profundis that was used for the burial of the religious. Currently, its three arches are bricked up and the windows in the upper part have been turned into balconies. After the reform laws transferred ownership of church properties to the Mexican government, this part of the convent was acquired by the wealthy merchant José Luis Bello y Acedo and subsequently inherited by his son José Luis, who kept it until 1968. The property houses his art collection and is called the José Luis Bello y Zetina Museum.

Ornaments
In both arms of the transept are rich churrigueresque altarpieces and on the side of the epistle, in large format, a painting attributed to Alonso López de Herrera representing the ``Transit of Santo Domingo''.