Mexico: Franciscan Missions of the Sierra Gorda, Queretaro (December 2022)

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The Sierra Gorda, located some 100- 150 kilometers northeast of Santiago de Queretaro, is home to five Franciscan missions built in the mid-18th century. They all display richly decorated facades created by missionaries and local indigenous groups. They share large architectural and decorative patterns, but each has specific features and distinctive decorations combining religious Christian symbols and indigenous influence. Their foundation is attributed to Father Junipero Serra, a controversial figure of Spanish colonization, who later founded another series of missions in California.

The five missions are (in chronological order of my visits): - Santiago de Jalpan, located in the town of Jalpan de Serra, 120km northeast of Stantiago de Queretaro, built between 1751 and 1758. - San Miguel Conca, in the village of Conca, 30km northwest of Jalpan de Serra, completed in 1754. - Santa Maria de la Purissima Conception del Agua de Landa, in the village of Landa de Matamoros, 16km southeast of Jalpan de Serra, built between 1760 and 1768. - San Francisco de Asis del Valle de Tilaco, in the village of Tilaco, 30km southeast of Jalpan de Serra, constructed between 1754 and 1762. - Nuestra Senora de la Luz de Tancoyol, in the village of Tancoyol, 25km northeast of Jalpan de Serra, built between 1761 and 1767.

Jalpan de Serra is a pleasant little town easily accessible by many daily bus connections from Santiago de Queretaro. The journey takes 4 to 5 hours due to the many stops to load/unload passengers, but it gives a tiny insight into the daily life of the local inhabitants, first through the sprawling suburbs of Santiago de Queretaro, then the arid region called the Queretano Semidesierto, and finally the greener Sierra Gorda. Jalpan de Serra has several hotels. There I hired a taxi to drive me to the other four missions in one long day.

Santiago de Jalpan:

View of the facade of the mission at night. The entrance of the cloister is to the right.

The facade of the mission seen at successive times of the day (morning, afternoon, and evening).

Closeups of portions of the facade. Note the Franciscan coat of arms above the door of the church. It consists of two arms, one of Christ, the other of Saint Francis of Assisi, crossing each other over a cross.

Inside the church.

Stucco frieze above the entrance of the cloister.

In the courtyard of the cloister.

Christmas lights on the plaza of Jalpan de Serra in front of the mission.

Brightly decorated graves surrounded by lush vegetation in the Panteon Municipal of tropical Jalpan de Serra.

Mission of San Miguel Conca:

Of the five missions, this is the smallest. But this is also where indigenous influence in the decoration (foliage, flowers, fruits/vegetables, facial features of angels) is most visible. The Holy Trinity stands at the top of the facade. Stucco carvings of the Habsburg double-headed eagle surmounted by a crown (a symbol of imperial Spain) may be seen (barely) in the three photos below near the top of the lateral sides of the two buttresses that frame the facade. Here, the double-headed eagle might have been meant to symbolize the blending of two cultures.

Ceiling decoration inside the mission, depicting ears of corn and fruits/vegetables.

Left: Beautifully shaped and decorated baptistery inside the church under the bell tower. Right: Main dome of the church. In comparison to their exuberant facades, the interiors of the five mission churches are relatively plain.

I visited the mission a couple of weeks before Christmas. Local people were then decorating the atrium of the mission with various representations (nativity, paradise, ...), including this depiction of hell.

El Arbol Milenario de Conca: a huge Montezuma cypress (known locally as a ˝sabino˝) believed to be more than 1000 years old, located a short distance from the mission.

Santa Maria de la Purissima Conception del Agua de Landa:

This mission is the last of the five missions. It is arguably the most elaborate and beautiful.

View of the mission from outside the wall bordering the atrium in front of the facade.

The mission facade seen from the atrium. Note the cross at the center of the atrium.

Interior of the church.

Decorations at the top of the pillars on the two sides of the nave.

Medallions on the ceiling depicting Saint Michael the Archangel fighting the dragon.

Another ceiling medallion said to depict Juan Duns Escoto (c. 1265-1308), a Scottish Franciscan friar and an important Christian philosopher-theologian.

Baptistery with a decorated wall and its superb window, at the base of the bell tower.

Three sections of a wide mural that serves as a backdrop for the open-air theater of the village of Landa de Matamoros, located across the street from the mission.

San Francisco de Asis del Valle de Tilaco:

Personally, I found the facade of this mission to be the prettiest of the five missions, perhaps because it looks better preserved and its pink and white colors provide better contrast.

In the photo below note the four mermaids with indigenous facial features on the two sides of the Franciscan coat of arms above the entrance door.

Portion of the walled atrium in front of the mission, with a cross at its center, two gates, and a corner chapel (called a ˝capilla posa˝) used during some celebrations. Forested hills of the Sierra Gorda are visible in the background.

Man walking behind the fortified wall in the back of the mission.

Nuestra Senora de la Luz de Tancoyol:

The bell tower, the church, and the monastery of the mission seen from the atrium.

Views of the church facade. The empty niche in the middle of the facade used to contain a representation of Nuestra Senora de la Luz (Our Lady of Light).

Left: Baptistery with a decorated back wall, located under the bell tower. Right: Rather plain nave of the church.

Medallion on the ceiling of the nave.

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