Mexico from Slides prt8: Tlachihualtepetl and Templo y Ex-convento de Santo Domingo
Tlachihualtepetl
(11 shots) | “Tlachihualtepetl” means “artificial mountain”; and that’s exactly how it looks. It’s better known as “The Great Pyramid of Cholula”. We had a long way to go that day, so we didn’t stay long. I chose to go undergroud; into the tunnel-labyrinth. Dark and spooky with an empty grave every now and then. The total tunnel-length is actually 8 km. In 1594 the Spanish invaders started to build the “Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios” (Church of Our Lady of Remedies) on top of the Pyramid-temple-complex. The icing on the cake. They were very good at that, those Spaniards; and maybe it was a fashion amongst powerful christians in those days; revering to the “Mezquita”, the Great Mosque of Córdoba, which center got penetrated by the “Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption”, starting in 1523. (To be complete: this Mosque of Córdoba was built ‘upon’ a catholic church; that was built on the foundation of a Roman Temple…).
Going Underground
Empty Grave
No Light at the End
Outside Wall of the Pyramid
Our bus drove us to Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán, a village in the state of Oaxaca. We were taken there to visit the “Templo y Ex-convento de Santo Domingo” (Temple and former convent of Saint Dominic), “built around the middle of the 16th century on pre-Hispanic foundations”(Wiki) … The complex of a church and a monastery was in the middle of a restoration.
Doric, Corinthian, Ionic
Drawn by Hand
Painted by Hand
Empty Handed
Warmth
harrie nijland 
“Going underground” and “No light at the end”: Excellent!!
And thanks for sharing. 🙂
🙂 Thanks, Malin.
Wow, the Christ figure is a bit frightening. Is he meant to show compassion? Just a little too realistic for me.
I had the same ‘doubts’; He looks like everything has dropped out of his hands.
The final two have such an overwhelming intimacy to them – I grew up with images like this, almost thinking they were part of the family, and yes, very frightening. Amazing what you get used to!
“part of the family”… I was raised as a heathen… Entering a church always was a bit frightening for me because I felt as an intruder who didn’t belong there. I once was in the Milan Cathedral; and there was a mass going on; in Italian. I decided to be part of that for a while. Suddenly there was a moment that everyone had to shake hands with a neighbor. The old woman in front of me turned around; looked at me for a moment and then turned back again, without shaking my hand.. “Oops, they all know” I thought, and sneaked back to my heathen world again. 🙂
Back in the day Mass used to be all about the benefits of pain, suffering and torture, good for the character, not to mention the spirit. Then it started out on the happy track with modifications such as the handshake that was “Peace be with you” which for many traditionalists was an intimacy too far, a deviation from the glory of suffering. Those damned hippies! I can tell you Harrie, entering a church is frightening, that’s just it doing its job! 🙂
🙂 Thanks, Patti.