As the capital of the state of Hidalgo, Pachuca has surprisingly few important colonial monuments. The church and former convento of San Francisco, though, are among the oldest religious buildings in the city and the largest and most important. Founded in 1595 by the Franciscans, the chapel was built and finally completed between 1660 and 1667.
Later, in the year 1732, the convento of Pachuca was chosen to house the Apostolic College of Propaganda FIDE, an important Franciscan evangelical institution. During the 1770's the College achieved its greatest influence, as missionaries trained here went to regions as far away as the New Kingdom of León and Nueva Santander (today the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas).
The Temple of the convent of San Francisco.
Its façade is of simple proportions, fashioned in a tiered baroque style, and reputedly designed by one Fray Francisco de Torantos.
Part of the façade was destroyed by dynamite in 1924 during the Delahuertista rebellion and has been subsequently restored.
The whitewashed facade contrasts with the rough stonework of the tower base and flanking buttress; it rises in three tiers and features openings with a variety of frames.
Nuestra Señora de la Luz
The principal chapel is that of Nuestra Señora de la Luz, located behind the main church. Built in the late 1700s it presents a simple facade of coarse masonry.
The whitewashed interior is notable for its magnificent gilded altarpiece, fashioned in the sumptuous late baroque estípite style.
The first tier showcases the richly robed statue of St Joseph with the Christ child. The flanking niches framed by complex estípite pilasters hold statues of Franciscan saints Philip of Jesus and San Pascual Bailón.
In the center of the retablo is a late colonial painting of the patron saint in her classic pose, saving a youth from the jaws of hell, signed by the poblano artist Lopez Herrera?
On the upper level a grand gilded niche houses the figure of La Purísima accompanied on either side by statues of Sts Pedro Regalado and Pedro de Alcántara.
text © 2024 Richard D. Perry
images courtesy of Niccolo Brooker and online sources
