Earthquake damage in Morelos update: Tetela del Volcán

The little mountain community of Tetela del Volcán clings to the steep western slopes of Popocatépetl. The unpretentious Dominican mission of San Juan Bautista sits on a rise above the village plaza, commanding a panoramic vista of the volcano above and the Amilpas Valley below.

© 1987 by Richard D. Perry

Like other modest churches in the region the square facade is mostly plain, capped here by a handsome, single tower bristling with massed pilasters.*

© 1987 by Richard D. Perry

The main attraction of the convento is the extraordinary sequence of 16th century murals that adorn the walks and arcades of its delightful, dressed stone cloister.

© Robert Jackson

* Unfortunately, like so many other churches in Morelos, during the recent earthquake Tetela sustained damage to its fabric, primarily to its ornate tower, whose upper tier collapsed into the atrium below. 

No word yet on the fate of the cloister murals at Tetela!

  

Tetela, the cemetery chapel;                                        San Marcos Xochicalco

Other churches and chapels in the immediate area also suffered severe effects, including the venerable cemetery chapel as well as neighboring hillside churches at Tlalmimilulpan, Xochicalco and Alpanocan.

 

San Pedro Tlalmimilulpan;                                   San Antonio Alpanocan

text © 2017 by Richard D. Perry

1987 color images by the author.  post quake pictures by Robert Jackson and online sources