Custodian of faith in Campeche
Standing in the heart of the city, on the east side of the main square, the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is the most significant and iconic religious building in San Francisco de Campeche, a legendary city whose great historical and cultural wealth has earned it the status of Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
According to Román Piña Chan, the history of the Cathedral goes back to the foundation of the city, in the mid-16th century, when the first settlers raised a small church very close to the site it occupies today. Many years later, the city council approached Msgr. Diego Vázquez de Mercado, bishop of Yucatan, to request a substitute for the old church, as it was in very bad condition, and “so small it must be replaced with one more ample”.
Construction on the new church began at the end of the 17th century, but work was suspended on several occasions for lack of resources. Work was renewed thanks to donations from Margarita Guerra, widow of the mayor, captain Diego García de la Gala. The work progressed, and although it was not finished, friar Pedro Reyes Ríos de Lamadrid performed a consecration on the 14th July 1705.
Fifty-three years later, when Manuel José de Nájera was vicar and superintendent, work was resumed. It concluded on the 22nd October 1760, with the construction of the chapel of Christ Nazarene and the seaward bell tower, called, “The Spanish Tower”, which housed the first public clock in the city, and a Spanish crest carved in stone, although the latter was later destroyed after Mexico gained independence.
Finally, under the auspices of the vicar Gregorio Jiménez, the landward tower, known as “The Campeche Tower” was built in 1850. In 1916, a four-faced clock was installed in it, which still functions today.
The parish church was consecrated with great solemnity in 1835 by the Bishop of Yucatan José María Guerra, who had been born in Campeche. In 1895, Pope Leo XIII created the Diocese of Campeche, and raised the church to the category of Cathedral.
The building is Baroque in style, with neo-classical details. It stands on a base 1.3 m (4 ft) above street level. The layout is in the form of a Latin cross, with a single nave separated by stone transverse arches supported by fluted columns with Attic bases and Doric capitals.
The last section of the nave joins the transept, with an octagonal dome on a drum and pendentives, crowned with a lantern. The rest of the nave, as well as the semi-transepts, are roofed with barrel vaults.
Seeing the Cathedral is love at first sight, beginning with the enchanting façade, comprising two levels of carved stone framed by grooved pilasters standing on pedestals, and a simple curved pediment with pinnacles in the center, and crowning the pilasters.
On the lower level is the main door with its entrance arch, and two pairs of pilasters to the sides with niches containing statues of Sts. Peter and Paul. In the center of the second level is a trefoil choir window and a small statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, also framed by two pilasters and niches containing sculptures of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic de Guzman. Between the pilasters and the window there are two smaller round windows, below which are semi-pinnacles attached to the wall. In the center of the pediment there is a crest with papal insignia.
Rising above the architectural complex are the towers, comprising three levels with square cross-sections and smooth walls. Their slender height makes the whole edifice stand out among the rest of the city’s buildings.
At the end of the nave is the presbytery, with the bishop’s throne flanked by two additional seats for concelebrant priests. To the sides are twelve more places, six to the right and six to the left, alluding to the twelve apostles.
Beyond the presbytery is the pyramidal high altar, flanked by two anthropomorphic lamps suggesting cherubim, and on the top level, an ancient tabernacle which is no longer in use. In times gone by, the high altar was in the form of a cypress, made of wood painted in oils: white embellished with purple details; this altar is now in the Expiatory Church of the Sweet Name of Jesus Nazarene.
At the other end of the Cathedral, above the main entrance, is the choir, formed by a wooden balcony. Below, next to the door, is the small baptistery chapel, built within the thickness of the wall.
Another notable feature of Campeche Cathedral is the reredos or Altar of the Saints, comprising three levels, and made of gray and pink marble. The lower level has two doors permitting access from the presbytery to the sacristy. The second level has three niches housing the patron saints of the city: St. Joseph to the left, the Immaculate Conception in the center, and St. Francis of Assisi to the right. On the third level there is a single niche containing a statue of Christ on the cross. The whole is topped by a marble crucifix above the arms of Campeche.
Equally impressive is the chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament, which has a decorated silver tabernacle, several figures of cherubim, and altarpieces dedicated to different saints.
Other interesting pieces within the church are a wood carving of St. Joseph and an alabaster font that dates from the 18th century.
In the interior patio is the chapel of Jesus Nazarene, which has a single nave and a barrel vault. Above the façade, which has various architectural details of merit, is a bell-gable with three openings. The chapel houses a small museum of sacred art, with an interesting range of pieces in different materials from various eras, including the Holy Burial: a sculpture of Christ in a catafalque carved in dark wood with embossed silver inlay. On Good Friday the catafalque is carried in procession through the main streets of the city.
The capital of the state of Campeche, famous for its Baroque colonial buildings and its historic downtown, is 174 km (108 miles) southwest of Merida. The city owes its name to the original Mayan village where the Spanish conquistadors founded the first town on the Yucatan Peninsula, on the 4th October 1540 (the feast day of St. Francis).
According to the Dictionary of Yucatecan Spanish, the name Campeche (Kampeche), “place of snakes and ticks”, could have two origins: K’in Pech: from k’in, a priest, and pech, an indigneous family name; o kan Pech: from kaan, snake, and peech, tick, which was the name of a deity represented by a snake with a tick on its head.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, one of the finest examples of colonial architecture in the state, in the opinion of the historian José García Preciat, stands on 55th Street, between 8th and 10th, on the east side of Constitution Square in the city of San Francisco de Campeche. It can be visited during times of services.
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