Altarpieces at San Cristóbal and Xul 

Enlightenment altars

The parish church of St. Christopher stands on 50^th Street, between 67th A and 69th, in the heart of one of Merida’s historic neighborhoods. The historian Juan Francisco Molina Solís traces the origin of this popular urban area to the foundation of the provincial capital itself, as a district set aside for settlement by the indigenous Mexicans who accompanied Francisco de Montejo in the conquest of the Peninsula. 

Religious administration of St. Christopher’s was the responsibility of Franciscan friars, and it was originally attached to the Great Monastery of St. Francis, now lost, which functioned as chapter house for the Order in Yucatan. 

In an article published in Annals of the Institute of Aesthetic Research, Miguel A. Bretos writes that construction of the present church of St. Christopher was begun on the 4^th of November 1756, since two years previously the bishop Friar Ignacio de Padilla had ordered the transfer of the area to the diocesan clergy. This required the building of a new parish church, which was concluded four decades later, on the 28^th of December 1796. The work was supervised by the priests Antonio de Lorra and Ignacio de Zepeda. Although the name of the architect who designed the church is not known for certain, there is an inscription on the inner ring of the dome which mentions Santiago Servián as being responsible for finishing it. 

St. Christopher’s is famous for its main portal, considered the most beautiful in Merida, according to the art historian Manuel Toussaint. Inside is the elegant neoclassical reredos, constructed of stone. 

Neoclassicism is an architectural style which became fashionable during the Enlightenment, towards the end of the 18^th century. It was seen as modern and rational, the antithesis of the preceding century’s Baroque exuberance. 

This jewel of Yucatecan sacred art is one of only a few examples of stone altarpieces in the region, and owes its existence to instructions on the subject issued by the Spanish Crown, which stipulated that altarpieces be constructed of marble or stone to eliminate the risk of fire posed by wooden ones. 

The piece comprises two levels, divided vertically into three sections, with a gable at the top. Each level features four Doric pilasters supporting simple architraves, friezes and cornices. Each level has three niches framed by Doric columns, and broken pediments in the case of the lateral niches. 

On the first level are statues of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the sanctuary, and St. Christopher. On the second are images of St. Francis of Assisi, Christ on the Cross, and St. Joseph. 

The gable consists of two pairs of pilasters and a pediment, which frame a modern painting of the Holy Trinity. In some photographs of the early 20^th century it can be seen that the reredos was painted, and had gold-leaf detailing, but these elements have since been lost.

In the church at Xul, a village in the municipality of Oxkutzcab, there is another neoclassical altarpiece constructed of stone and stucco. In Maya, Xul means “end or terminus”.

The church, which was the scene of fighting during the Caste War, is now partially ruined. The altarpiece has lost its statues, and is in poor condition. Other examples of stone or stucco altarpieces can be found in the churches at Sacalum and Santa Elena. 

St. Christopher’s is today a diocesan sanctuary of The Virgin of Guadalupe, and as such is a site of pilgrimage for hundreds of the faithful from all over the Yucatan Peninsula, especially during the days leading up to her feast day, on the 12^th of December. At Xul, meanwhile, the parishioners venerate an image of a black Christ, known as the Lord of  Esquipulas.