An essential monument
The Church of the Third Order – also known as the Church of Jesus – is undoubtedly one of Merida’s most well-known and admired churches, perhaps second only to the Cathedral of St. Ildefonso. It owes this honor not only to its privileged location, very close to the Main Square on the city’s most important street, at the junction of 60th and 59th Street, but also to beauty of its stone work and its enchanted setting: surrounded by plazas, theaters and venerable buildings that preserve an atmosphere frozen in time.
Centuries ago, to walk around this area was to enter a place of great social significance, a refuge of ritual and penitence, but also of knowledge and culture. The church we know today as the Third Order was part of the St Francis Xavier College, a religious and educational institution founded in 1618 thanks to a bequest from Captain Martín de Palomar, who left his principal houses, several plots of land and the sum of 20,000 pesos for the realisation of the project. The Jesuits, famous for their dedication to teaching, were brought in to administer the complex.
The College was raised to the category of university in 1624, by decree of King Philip III. By the mid-17th century, the complex included galleries, classrooms, dormitories, gardens, courtyards, a “very splendid” main hall, and other facilities. The church was built at the end of the century, on the site of a previous, provisional structure. It was extended in 1711.
Initially, as Justo Sierra O’Reilly wrote in the Yucatan Register of 1846 (under the pen-name of José Turrisa), “the church of Jesus was small and badly-built, but at the end of the 17th century, with the support of the parish, the Jesuits built the beautiful church which stands today. The Church of Jesus is to Merida what the magnificent churches of The “Profesa” of St Philip Neri and La Compañía are to Mexico City and Puebla: the most solid, spacious and elegant church, after the Cathedral.”
O’Reilly goes on: “Its proportions are calculated to perfection, and the two sturdy towers that adorn the façade clearly represent a more beautiful and perfect architecture than those of the Cathedral.”
Together with the church, the religious and educational complex was arranged around a large central courtyard. At its zenith, it covered most of the block now occupied by the church, the Motherhood Park (part of the courtyard), Congress Alley, the Peon Contreras Theater, the old State Congress building (now the Palace of Music), and other buildings along 60th Street that disappeared over a century ago.
In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from all Spanish territories on orders of Charles III, and the church served as parish church to the Afro-Mexican community, while the College was converted into a remedial seminary and renamed after St Charles Borromeo. In 1822, the church was handed over to the penitential Third Order of Franciscans, from whom it took the name by which it is still known today, even though the Jesuits recovered the building when they returned in the 20th century.
In the early 19th century, the main hall, the huge sacristy, and adjoining rooms were taken over by the Constituent Congress. I wide street was opened – called Cabo Piña Street but now Congress Alley – and the northern section of the College was sold for the construction of the St Charles Theater, the predecessor of the Peon Contreras. In 1915 the church was confiscated and its altarpieces destroyed. In 1920 it was re-opened for worship, and work began on restoration.
The outstanding feature of the Church of the Third Order is its Mannerist façade, decorated with botanical motifs, and crosses on either side of the choir window. Inside we can appreciate the dome with its lantern, and the walls decorated with beautiful motifs which date from the early 20th century, as do the altarpieces, with the exception of the one in the south transept, which is 18th century.
The Church of the Third Order and its adjacent complex comprised the first educational institution in the South-east of Mexico, at a time when the life of the community was dominated and controlled by the Church. Thus it constitutes a key monument in our understanding of the transformations which our society has undergone, and is one of the most important buildings that serve as a window onto Merida’s distant past.
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