2020 | Building Peace through Heritage
The 14 Monasteries on The Slopes of Popocatepetl after the 2017
Earthquake
Jimena Galindo Rubín de la Borbolla 1 , Adriana Palafox Argáiz 2 ; Viviana López
Gutiérrez 3
1
Grupo Cultural Nilwitsil, [email protected]
2
Grupo Cultural Nilwitsil, [email protected]
3
Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (National Coordination of Cultural
Heritage Conservation), [email protected]
Abstract: In Morelos and Puebla are located 14 monasteries that were built around
the 16th Century. These monasteries were added to the UNESCO World Heritage
List in 1994. They were added since they are a great example of the architectural
style adopted by the first missionaries. This architectural style of buildings with
open spaces has influenced a great amount of construction all over the Mexican
territories. These monasteries where in excellent conservation until 2017. On September
19 2017 with a magnitude of 7.1; the earthquake caused a lot of damage in
Mexico. The monasteries suffered major structural damages, not only at the architectonic
construction. Also, many mural paintings, altarpieces, bells, canvas paintings
and more where affected. Now this world heritage is in danger, even though the
INAH and many conservation and restoration business are working to acquire resources
to restore the monasteries the process has been slow and tedious. The communities
living around these historical sites are worried they will never be able to
use the churches like before. The main goal now is recovering the sites to promote
the tourism but more important to return their temples to the people to preserve the
intangible heritage at those areas.
Keywords: monasteries, earthquake, architecture, conservation
Introduction
The earliest 16th century Monasteries built on the slopes of the Popocatepetl volcano were recognized
by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization known as UNESCO, and
declared as a World Heritage Site on December 17, 1994. Eleven of them are located on the state of
Morelos, situated in the municipalities known as Atlatlahucan, Cuernavaca, Tetela del Volcán, Yautepec,
Ocuituco, Tepoztlán, Tlayacapan, Totolapan, Yecapixtla and Zacualpan de Amilpas; the remaining
three are in the state of Puebla at the municipalities of Calpan, Huejotengo and Tochimilco. The election
of these fourteen monasteries is due to the historic and cultural value, as well as their architectural
style. Most of these singular characteristics were imprinted by their founders and makers: the Three
Mendicant Orders, which are the Franciscans, Augustinians and Dominicans; who relied on their architectural
experience and Mediterranean monastery models.
Different regions were allocated to the Roman Catholic religious order to establish and perform their
preaching, which are divided as shown below.
• The Franciscans: Cuernavaca, Calpan, Huejotzingo and Tochimilco
• The Dominicans: Oaxtepec, Tepoztlán, Tetela del Volcán and Hueyapan
• The Augustinians: Tlayacapan, Totolapan, Atlatlahucan, Yecapixtla, Ocuituco and Zacualpan de
Amilpas
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