Mexico City’s Cathedral… a Big Church with an Even Bigger Name

The Metropolitan Cathedral or the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary Into Heaven sits on one side of the Zocalo, the main square of Mexico city, and on top of the pyramids of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. Originally built after the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. To add insult to injury they tore down the Aztec temples and used the stones to build the Catholic church. They wanted to show the power of not only the Spanish but also the church. Mexico city is now predominately Catholic but they often incorporate the Aztec customs. The church has undergone enlargement many times and each time they seem to find more and more Aztec relics. It’s a beautiful cathedral that’s the currently the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico. It was built in the gothic style of the churches of Spain. It has two large altars and a choir cathedral and sixteen chapels, fourteen of which are open to the public. Each one is dedicated to a different saint or saints. It also houses two of the largest 18th century organs in the Americas. Due to the many earthquakes in the area portions of the church had to be rebuilt. Finally in the 1990s the church was stabilized and in 2000 it was taken off the endangered list. It also has two large bell towers which house twenty five bells, eighteen in the East tower and seventeen in the West tower. The largest being called Santa Maria de Guadalupe weighing in at around 29000 pounds. in 1947 on of the novice bell ringers was killed while trying to move the bell while standing under it. The bell hit him in the head killing him instantly. The following year the bell had its clapper removed as punishment… ok who punishes a bell??? After that it was known as La Castigada… or the punished one. In 2007 a time capsule of sorts was found. It was placed there in 1791 and held many religious relics. It was meant to protect the church. To the right of the main church is the tabernacle , a place for