I'll bet you didn't know that only St. Peter's Church in Rome attracts more Virgin Mary worshippers than Mexico City's Basilica of Our Lady of the Guadalupe. So many, in fact, that you must board an escalator in the new basilica to keep the line moving beneath the altar that enshrines her portrait!
Every December 12 as many as nine million pilgrims crowd the religious complex on Tepeyac Hill which includes both the new and old basilicas, and several other churches.
These young American men are among the eleven million other Catholics who make the pilgrimage at other times of the year. Only the especially devout do it on their knees.
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| Temple and Convent of Las Capuchinas |
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| Capilla del Pocito |
Alicia, our Teotihuacan guide, warned us that the old basilica is sinking. "Don't worry if you feel off balance, it's not your sickness," she said. Risk-averse Chris was more worried about the imminent collapse of the church, built at the end of the 16th century.
Alicia explained that the Virgin Mary statues in Our Lady of the Guadalupe tend to have darker complexions than those in other churches, reflecting the skin tones of local Catholics.
It might be persuasively argued that Spain's most significant accomplishment in Mexico--other than the introduction of its language--was the Catholicization of the country. This painting, hanging in the old basilica, depicts the conversion of indigenous people.
The light was wrong for photographing the new basilica--it looks like an undistinguished (if level) mega church--but at least one stained glass panel on the entrance doors alluded to the nation's pagan roots.
The bright color choices seem local, too.
. . . as did the look of the saints in bronze relief.
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