Survivors of persecution
There are no precise details regarding the foundation of what is now the town of Hoctún, although we know it existed before the Conquest. In 1722 it became part of the encomienda of Ángela de la Fleguera Castillo, with responsibility for 269 Indians. The settlement began to evolve in 1821, when Yucatan declared its independence from the Spanish crown, and in 1889 it was promoted to the category of town.
In the Main Square stands the parish church and ex-monastery of St. Michael Archangel, a building which was completed in 1621, according to an inscription on the main façade, in other words, at the zenith of religious architecture in Yucatan.
The church has a simple but handsome facade, whose architectural design give it the appearance of a basilica. During the course of its history it has been through good times and bad. Originally dedicated to St. Michael, it was later placed under the patronage of St. Lawrence (and indeed appears under this name in the Catalogue of Religious Buildings in the State of Yucatan) before being returned to its original patron, with whom it remains today.
Like all Catholic churches in the state, it was closed in 1915, during the Governorship of Salvador Alvarado. Later it was occupied by the Socialist Resistance League, until through the offices of the townspeople it was handed over to the parish priest on the 10th of September 1919.
Given the anti-religious fervor of Alvarado’s troops, it is remarkable that the church of St. Michael in Hoctún managed to preserve its side altarpieces, three 18th-century works of art that are notable not only for bearing their construction date, but also for the innovative form of the column shafts.
The side altarpiece of Our Lady of Sorrows, made of wood in Baroque style, measures 2.5 x 4 meters (8 x 13 ft). It has a single level and a gable, with a single vertical division. The base is plain masonry, and the predella has a molded architrave and a frieze decorated with rosettes and volutes. The projections form corbels, and the carved cornice is wide and molded.
In the center is a rectangular niche decorated with plant motifs within a double frame which is also painted and decorated with flowers. It holds a carved statue of Our Lady of Sorrows holding Christ in her her arms.
In front there is a silver and gold frame with simple moldings, and to the sides a border adorned with five rosettes and acanthus leaves, all flanked by a pair of Solomonic columns with stylized Corinthian capitals, their shafts also decorated with rosettes and acanthus leaves.
The whole altarpiece is surrounded by a Greek key design of volutes and rosettes, which starts with a rinceau to the side of the main body. The gable is a rounded arch bordered by a simple molding in the form of a cord. In the center there is a cross arising from the middle of a flower, along with intertwined volutes, flowers and acanthus leaves.
The side altarpiece to an unknown patron saint, is estipite Baroque in design, and dates from 1745. It has a single level and a gable, with a single vertical division. The base is plain masonry, the predella has a simple, molded architrave and cornice, the frieze is blank, and the projections have painted flower vases.
The main body has a rectangular niche in the center, with a glass frame door, flanked by a column on either side, with a cylindrical shaft painted with a pair of palm trees occupying two-thirds of the height, and a spiralling arcade the remainder.
The gable which crowns the altarpiece is a segmented arch, bordered by a simple molding. In the center is a shield with monograms of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Joachim and Anne, and the date 1745. El escudo está rodeado por volutas y hojas de acanto, al centro en la parte inferior hay una flor. The gable is topped by a molded arch containing a cross and the monogram of Christ the King.
The side altarpiece to the Sweet Heart of Mary measures 2 x 4 meters (6 ft 5 in x 13 ft). It is Baroque in style, made of wood, and dates to 1739. It has a single level and a gable, with a single vertical division. The base is plain masonry, with steps at the ends. The predella is interrupted by the principal niche and to the sides has a simple molded architrave and cornice. The frieze is adorned with two panels decorated with rosettes and volutes.
In the center of the main body is a large rectangular niche with a glass frame door in front. To each side is a pair of columns of which half the shaft is cylindrical, decorated with bas-relief palm trees, and the other half is Solomonic, covered with a spiral arcade up to the Corinthian capitals.
The entablature is also interrupted by the niche, and at the sides has a simple architrave. The frieze is decorated with a robe, the projections with rosettes and volutes, and the wide, protruding cornice is molded and serrated.
The gable is in the form of a rounded arch, with a pinnacle at each end topped by a sphere, and in the center three paintings framed rosettes and volutes. The central one is higher and broader than the other two, and depicts the Patroness, the lateral paintings show archangels, one with the Veil of Veronica and the other with a ladder. Above each side painting there is a shield with a monogram of Mary and Joseph, and above the central portrait is another shield bearing the date 1739. The remainder of the surface is decorated with rings and acanthus leaves.
The altarpieces in the church of St. Michael Archangel are open to the public, and can be viewed when the church is open.
The town of Hoctún – “Los retablos de la iglesia de San Miguel Arcángel están expuestos y se pueden visitar cuando el templo está abierto. La población de Hoctún -“the dug-up stone” in Maya, from hoc, dig up, remove; and tun, stone – is located 53 kilometers (33 miles) east of Merida, and 16 km (10 miles) south of Izamal.
Location