Historical Places
THE PARISH
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The construccion of the parish
began in 1793 and was ended after 20 long years, in 1817.
It is known that in 1800 while the cupola was being built, it did fall apart,
causing the suspension of the work for several years, and had to be redesign it.
Tha actual dimensions of the temple are: 53 mts.long, 13 mts wide, 17 mts high
in the vault and 32 mts high in the cupola. In all the years while the parish
was being built the people did use the sacristy for their religious cult.
The church has 8 altars, of which
the mayor one is dedicated to the Purisima Concepci�n
(Immaculate Conception) patron of Real de Catorce.
The fa�ade, is of a neoclassic style, combining doric elements and it is built
entirely of quarry, brought from Zacatecas State.
The floor is a movable platform made of mezquite wood, kept in really good conditions.
The oldest of the six bells on the tower is of 1848 and the newest is of 1902.
The whole paintings inside the church were restored in 1980.
In this church people worship
the image of miraculous San Francesco di Assisi, better known here as "Panchito",
whose altar was built in neogothic style at the end of 19th century.
The revered image is a wooden sculpture articulated
on arms and legs which sits in the center of its altar throughout the year, until
the day of the feast of this Saint, the 4th of October, when the pilgrims bring it
outside the temple to go around the village to send its blessings. These days many,
many pilgrims come to fill up Real de Catorce from different parts of northern Mexico.
In the sacristy we can find thousands of retables
from the pilgrims, offerings from the devouts to the saint as thanksgings for
the Grace obtained from him.
For sure, it is a huge blessing and well-being what
Panchito gave to Real de Catorce. Thanks to him, this small pueblito up the
mountains kept on living through the faith of the people, when the main
resources of this place, gold and silver faded, and long before the tourism as
it is nowdays, ever acknowledged its existence.
That`s why we think,this is the place where we should start our visit of Real
de Catorce, no matter our personal or religious belief.
[general][how to get there][what to do]
[where to sleep]
[where to eat]
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