Azcapotzalco: the west front

In an earlier series we looked at several late colonial church fronts designed in what has been termed neóstilo, or popularly, Neostyle.

Another facade that falls into this category is that of the church of Santiago y San Felipe de Azcapotzalco, in Mexico City.   

Carved from warm, light gray chiluca limestone, the elegant facade dates from the late 1700s. It marries the late baroque format of a soaring, open center section with layered passages of ornamental whorls, broken mixtilinear cornices and stalactite like pinjante pendants, with single and paired plain, elongated classical Doric, partially fluted columns. 

  

Multiple scrolls also frame the slender, ornamental niches between the columns—now vacant, but possibly once intended for statues of the patron saints, the apostles James Major and Philip. 

Emblazoned above the high, lobed choir window is the Dominican escutcheon of the fleur-de-lis cross.

.....................................................

The church is also noted for its Rosary Chapel and a variety of splendid baroque altarpieces which we will review in a later post.

text © 2017 Richard D. Perry.

images © 1986 by the author

Check out our other recent posts on colonial facades and doorways of note: 

Tecamachalco; Molango; Tepeaca; Mixquiahuala; La Casa de Montejo; Atlixco, La Merced; Third Order ; Ixtacala; Texcoco; Tlamaco; Nexquipayac; Tepalcingo; San Cristóbal de Mérida; Huaquechula; Huejotzingo;