Convent of Acolman, Mexico

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Convent of Acolman, State of Mexico,.

Acolman is a municipality or town located at the State of Mexico, neighboring Mexico City and Teotihuacan archeological site, so it is a place that you can visit in a single day. We specially went over there to visit the Former Convent of Acolman, due to my interest in the Colonial architecture and in art. I wanted to see the fresco painting of this building.

Its construction began between 1524 and 1529 by Fray Andrés de Olmos for the Franciscan Order, and was later donated to the Augustinians in 1536, whom finished the construction circa 1560.  It was secularized in the seventeenth century but abandoned in 1772 when it was 2 meter flooded. Currently it houses the Museum of Viceregal Acolman.

The door is a classic example of Plateresque, with columns and decor inspired by the Italian Renaissance.

It has the sturdy architecture of the XVI century mendicant convents and the layout of a traditional convent complex with a temple, an atrium and a cloister.

Some of the  frescoes located at the cloister are almost faded away but those in better conditions are really beautiful, as you can see.

The temple has Gothic ribs and also  fresco paintings of the sixteenth century representing major characters of the Agustinian order as bishops, cardinals and priests, as also prophets and saints of the Old Testament. It has an altarpiece painted in the eighteenth century.

March 16, 2013January 6, 2014 by mariannegv Categories: architectural photography, Mexico, photography, religious architectureTags: Acolman, architectural photography, architecture, art, Augustinians, colonial architecture, Convent, fresco paintings, Mexico, plateresque, religious architecture, religious art 5 Comments