Ixtacamaxtitlan.2 San Francisco

Next in our series of posts on the churches of northern Puebla we consider the conventual church of San Francisco Ixtacamaxtitlan.

The former convento of San Francisco here was founded in 1542 and served the Seraphic Order until 1567, when the building passed to the secular clergy and served as the parish church, which it remains.

The church takes the basilican form with side aisles divided by rows of pillars. Two substantial side chapels open off the nave, one dedicated to El Señor del Buen Viaje, and the second dedicated to the Virgin of Carmen.

El Señor del Buen Viaje

This chapel is notable for its several gilded altarpieces, fashioned in the early "solomonic" baroque style and framed with ornate spiral columns. 

The Virgin of Carmen

Here the principal altarpiece is later, designed in a modified barroco estípite style. The Virgin of Carmen occupies the center vitrine; both she and the child Jesus hold traditional scapulars, adorned with the Carmelite insignia.

Both chapels are reputed to contain paintings by noted Pueblan artists, Lorenzo Zendejas and Juan de Villalobos.

text © 2021 Richard D. Perry

photography by Niccolo Brooker and from online resources