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Complex formed by the Franciscan Convent and Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral, Tlaxcala (as an extension of Popocateptl)

Les noms des biens figurent dans la langue dans laquelle les Etats parties les ont soumis.

Mexique (Amérique latine et Caraïbes)
Date de soumission : 06/12/2004
Critères: (ii)(iv)(vi)
Catégorie : Culturel
Soumis par : World Heritage Office (INAH) Mexico's National Commission for UNESCO (CONALMEX)Puebla 95, Col. R
Coordonnées 19° 18' N98° 14' W
Ref.: 1960

Description

This important religious construction that symbolizes the horizontal and respectful cultural relationship of that belonging to two cultures –the indigenous and the Spanish cultures– was built where the most important springs of the community were located.

The Complex formed by the Franciscan Convent and Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral shares the typological elements and the evangelizing objectives considered to include the First Monasteries of the XVI century located on the slopes of the Popocatépetl in the World Heritage List. It also has a series of exceptional and distinctive qualities that undoubtedly reinforce the acknowledgment of universal value. The Complex made up by the Convent and Cathedral in Tlaxcala is the only one that developed a double height atrium, between the two levels there is a tower separated from the body of the temple that is joined to the group by means of cloisters that hold a passageway. The Virgin of the Rosary roadside chapel, now known as the open chapel ornamented with Gothic ribs is extremely valuable. The church, at present the Cathedral of Tlaxcala, stands out among the group of the First Monasteries because it was built without buttresses, thought from the start to receive its splendid carved and ornate wooden ceiling with an undoubted Mudejar influence, which up to date is complete and very well preserved after almost four hundred years.



In addition to the pre-Hispanic and viceroyalty collections that are exhibited at the ex-convent, today the Regional Museum of Tlaxcala of which the National Anthropology and History Institute is in charge, the temple houses an original collection of goods among which stand out the main altar-piece that depicts at its top the pictorial representation of the baptism of the Four Lords of Tlaxcala, with Hernán Cortés as their godfather; the baptismal font where this ceremony was held; the pulpit with the carved legend “Here was the beginning of the Holy Gospel in the New World”; the magnificent Saint Francis of Assisi of the Three Worlds carving; the Philippine door that leads to the Guadalupe Chapel; and an image of Christ made from sugar cane paste which, according to tradition, was presented by Hernán Cortés.



During the first years of the European presence in America, a deep controversy regarding the humanity of the natives was generated, to such an extent that Baltasar de Tobar, who prepared the Compendio Bulario Índico in 1695, said that “the tangle of those who were opposed began saying that the Indians were irrational and they should be treated as beasts.” In this context, the Complex formed by the Franciscan Convent and the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral was the setting that originated events and literary works of an exceptional universal meaning indispensable to understand the genesis and later development of evangelization in America. Proof of this is the argument presented by Fray Julián Garcés before Pope Paulo III in favor of the humanity of the natives, which in 1537 lead to the Bula Sublimi Deus expedition where it was acknowledged that “the natives themselves are real men, not only capable of receiving the Christian faith, but as we have been informed swiftly run towards it; in order to provide a timely solution, and using the apostolic authority, we determine and declare with these words that such Natives…must be invited to embrace the Christian faith through preaching the Word of God and through the example of a good life, without there being anything that hinders this.”



The historical contribution of both documents is undoubted because as of the moment they were issued a substantial reformulation of the relationship established between the pre-Hispanic communities and the Spanish conquerors was promoted. That relationship was quite different from the one developed before the Pope’s authority was recognized. This Complex of religious buildings is first the testimony, and later the radical nucleus, of numerous historical events and important intangible cultural manifestations that determined the way in which evangelization developed in the American continent as of the XVI century. It should be enough just to mention the Spanish–Tlaxcalteca alliance to conquer Mexico–Tenochtitlan, the actions of the so called Martyr Children of Tlaxcala and, in issues of a merely political aspect, the participation of the Franciscans during the negotiations between the indigenous council and the viceregal authorities, that began late in 1590, when the latter asked that 400 families from Tlaxcala be sent to reinforce the Spanish settlements in the North of New Spain, considering that with their example and influence they would facilitate the pacification indoctrination of the Chichimecas who devastated the region in the second half of the XVI century. In the end, this journey became a movement that founded several cities in the North, where there are still proud descendants of the Tlaxcaltecas, as well as toponyms with a Tlaxcaltecan origin.



The cathedral Complex is an indispensable and fundamental piece to better understand the cultural values of a universal scope present in the first Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian settlements on the slopes of the Popocatépetl; besides, it provides information on the first and decisive moments of evangelization in America and incorporates a valuable reference to an exceptional universe of movable property and buildings that represent the different historical epochs lived by the fourteen convents already declared. The intercultural transcending message, of which the convent and the cathedral in Tlaxcala are a tangible testimony should not be overlooked.

This important religious construction that symbolizes the horizontal and respectful cultural relationship of that belonging to two cultures –the indigenous and the Spanish cultures– was built where the most important springs of the community were located.



The Complex formed by the Franciscan Convent and Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral shares the typological elements and the evangelizing objectives considered to include the First Monasteries of the XVI century located on the slopes of the Popocatépetl in the World Heritage List. It also has a series of exceptional and distinctive qualities that undoubtedly reinforce the acknowledgment of universal value. The Complex made up by the Convent and Cathedral in Tlaxcala is the only one that developed a double height atrium, between the two levels there is a tower separated from the body of the temple that is joined to the group by means of cloisters that hold a passageway. The Virgin of the Rosary roadside chapel, now known as the open chapel ornamented with Gothic ribs is extremely valuable. The church, at present the Cathedral of Tlaxcala, stands out among the group of the First Monasteries because it was built without buttresses, thought from the start to receive its splendid carved and ornate wooden ceiling with an undoubted Mudejar influence, which up to date is complete and very well preserved after almost four hundred years.



In addition to the pre-Hispanic and viceroyalty collections that are exhibited at the ex-convent, today the Regional Museum of Tlaxcala of which the National Anthropology and History Institute is in charge, the temple houses an original collection of goods among which stand out the main altar-piece that depicts at its top the pictorial representation of the baptism of the Four Lords of Tlaxcala, with Hernán Cortés as their godfather; the baptismal font where this ceremony was held; the pulpit with the carved legend “Here was the beginning of the Holy Gospel in the New World”; the magnificent Saint Francis of Assisi of the Three Worlds carving; the Philippine door that leads to the Guadalupe Chapel; and an image of Christ made from sugar cane paste which, according to tradition, was presented by Hernán Cortés.



During the first years of the European presence in America, a deep controversy regarding the humanity of the natives was generated, to such an extent that Baltasar de Tobar, who prepared the Compendio Bulario Índico in 1695, said that “the tangle of those who were opposed began saying that the Indians were irrational and they should be treated as beasts.” In this context, the Complex formed by the Franciscan Convent and the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral was the setting that originated events and literary works of an exceptional universal meaning indispensable to understand the genesis and later development of evangelization in America. Proof of this is the argument presented by Fray Julián Garcés before Pope Paulo III in favor of the humanity of the natives, which in 1537 lead to the Bula Sublimi Deus expedition where it was acknowledged that “the natives themselves are real men, not only capable of receiving the Christian faith, but as we have been informed swiftly run towards it; in order to provide a timely solution, and using the apostolic authority, we determine and declare with these words that such Natives…must be invited to embrace the Christian faith through preaching the Word of God and through the example of a good life, without there being anything that hinders this.”



The historical contribution of both documents is undoubted because as of the moment they were issued a substantial reformulation of the relationship established between the pre-Hispanic communities and the Spanish conquerors was promoted. That relationship was quite different from the one developed before the Pope’s authority was recognized. This Complex of religious buildings is first the testimony, and later the radical nucleus, of numerous historical events and important intangible cultural manifestations that determined the way in which evangelization developed in the American continent as of the XVI century. It should be enough just to mention the Spanish–Tlaxcalteca alliance to conquer Mexico–Tenochtitlan, the actions of the so called Martyr Children of Tlaxcala and, in issues of a merely political aspect, the participation of the Franciscans during the negotiations between the indigenous council and the viceregal authorities, that began late in 1590, when the latter asked that 400 families from Tlaxcala be sent to reinforce the Spanish settlements in the North of New Spain, considering that with their example and influence they would facilitate the pacification indoctrination of the Chichimecas who devastated the region in the second half of the XVI century. In the end, this journey became a movement that founded several cities in the North, where there are still proud descendants of the Tlaxcaltecas, as well as toponyms with a Tlaxcaltecan origin.



The cathedral Complex is an indispensable and fundamental piece to better understand the cultural values of a universal scope present in the first Franciscan, Dominican, and Augustinian settlements on the slopes of the Popocatépetl; besides, it provides information on the first and decisive moments of evangelization in America and incorporates a valuable reference to an exceptional universe of movable property and buildings that represent the different historical epochs lived by the fourteen convents already declared. The intercultural transcending message, of which the convent and the cathedral in Tlaxcala are a tangible testimony should not be overlooked.