Ermita, the Hermitage, Delegación Benito Juárez | Recollection of an Historic Crossroads

The Calzada de Tlalpan: Seeking Out the History of an Ancient Roadway

In 2008, we moved into our apartment in the Colonia (neighborhood) Parque San Andrés in the then Delegación (since 2016 called an Alcaldá, mayoralty) Coyoacán. We soon learned that the highway one block to the east, the Calzada de Tlalpan, was the causeway built by the Mexica/Azteca south across Lake Texcoco from their altepetl (city-state) when they won control of the area around the lake from the Tepaneca of Azcapotzalco, on the west shore of the lake in 1428.

Hence, the roadway has been in continuous use for almost six hundred years, probably one of the oldest continuously used man-made roadways in the Americas. Certain that much history had to be associated with this causeway-roadway, we made it a goal to discover as much of that history as we could.

Metro Line 2 runs up the middle of the Calzada, from Taxqueña, a crossroad just south of us, to the city's Centro, Using it frequently, we early on took note of the names of the stations, as they often provided clues to the neighborhoods they were in or to some historical event that happened in the area.

For example, we learned that Estación General Anaya, the station closest to our apartment — and hence our home base for Metro trips — was named after the Mexican general who led the defense against invading U.S. forces in August 1847, near the end of the so-called Mexican-American War.  Mexicans view him as a hero because he and his troops fought heroically at the nearby former convent of San Diego (which doubled as a fortress) until they ran out of ammunition and were forced to surrender. Also named after him are a street passing the convent and a nearby colonia, in Delegación/Alcaldía Benito Juaréz just to the north.

The next station north, just over the border in Benito Juárez, is Ermita (Hermitage), the name, as well, of a small colonia nearby. This seemed to indicate that there had once been a hermitage, a small chapel for prayer and meditation, somewhere in the area. We also learned that it was where the channel carrying water from Lake Xochimilco, to the south, discharged into Lake Texcoco.

Thus, it was a strategic place for the powers that were in place to control traffic between the two lakes. Seeking easy access to the southeast part of the Valley, the Mexica divided the causeway at this strategic point into two roadways: one westbound to Coyoacán, a major center in the southwest of the Valley, and the other eastbound to Mexicaltzingo, on the tip of the Iztapalapa Peninsula.

The eastbound causeway is now the Calzada Ermita-Iztpalapa, a major roadway that crosses all of Delegación/Alcaldía Iztapalapa to the State of Mexico. Ermita was, and remains, at the crossroads. However, we were unable to find any reference to the existence of a hermitage at this spot, let alone any physical remains.

Southwest bay of Lake Texcoco,
with Tenochtitlán of the Mexica in the center.

It shows all the altepetls (city-states) that had come under
the dominance of the Mexica and their allies of the Triple Alliance,
together with most of their subordinate villages.
 

The Triple Alliance, led by Tenochtitlán and including

Tlacopan (on the west shore of the lake, northwest of Tenochtitlán) 

and Texcoco (on the east shore of the lake),

defeated the Tepaneca of Azcapotzalco (north of Tlalcopan) in 1428,
and took control of the entire area around Lake Texcoco.

The Mexica then built the causeways
to make access to their dominion easier.

Ermita was located where the southbound causeway divided 
to create access to Coyoacán (spelled Coyohuacan here)
and the Iztapalapa Peninsula.

From the magazine Arqueología méxicana.
The title says it portrays the Basin (Valley) of Mexico, but it does not.
It is only the southwest bay of Lake Texcoco,
by far the largest of five lakes in the Valley.

Then, just recently, the entire story of la Ermita appeared out of nowhere, as such treasures often do, on one of the Facebook Pages that we follow relating to the history of Mexico City. We present our translation of the post in its short entirety, along with a priceless photo of what remained of the hermitage about one hundred years ago.

The Story of la Ermita

The ruins of the old Hermitage of San Antonio,
located at the junction of roads of pre-Hispanic origin
that are now the Calzada de Tlalpan and the Calzada Ermita-Iztapalapa,
around 1925.
Its facade is in the ornate Baroque style
of the latter part of the 17th century.
(See our page: México Barroco |
 Baroque Art: Representing Divine Ecstacy, Invoking Awe

The hermitage or small chapel, known as the Chapel of the Souls or Zacahuitzco (name of a nearby barrio on the island of Iztacalco), functioned as a visita, a chapel served by the parish priest from a nearby parish. It was created as a place to say Mass for souls in purgatory.

 According to a Royal Pronouncement now kept in the National Archives of Mexico, in 1645, Don Garcia Sarmiento Miguel de Mora, Count of Salvatierra, a resident of Mexico City, asked the Archbishop of Mexico to build a chapel on the Iztapalapa Calzada. 

It states that the count asked the Archbishop that, "in the service to God our Lord", Masses be said there for the souls in purgatory. It states that he was given permission to construct such a hermitage dedicated to the Virgin of the People where the Calzada de Tlalpan, which the Spanish had extended south to the towns of Tlalpan and Xochimilco, intersected with the roads to Iztapalapa and Coyoacán. 

A "virtuous man" was to live there and ask for alms from passersby to be used for Masses and that passengers in carriages and pedestrians would then be able to hear these Masses and receive an indulgence (guarantee that they or a dead family member would have their time in purgatory reduced.)

It is unknown at what time the name was changed to San Antonio, but it is attributed to the fact that one of the old neighborhoods of the nearby town of Iztacalco is San Antonio Zacahuisco.

Apparently la Ermita was abandoned by the beginning of the 20th century, and it remained in a dilapidated state until the 1940s, when it was destroyed as the Calzada de Tlalpan was widened (into an eight lane highway with an electric tram line up the middle). It remains now only as the name of a colonia, a Metro station and the Calzada Ermita-Iztapalapa roadway.

Photo: Attributed to Manuel Ramos, CNMH-INAH (National Coordinator of Hisotric Monuments of the National Institute of Anthropology and History), taken from the book "Delegación Benito Juárez, Images from the Memory of María de Jesús Real García Figueroa".

Provided by the Facebook Page Red de Cementerios Patrimoniales del Centro de Mexico (Network of Historic Cemeteries of the Center of Mexico), shared by the Facebook Page of San Bartolo Atepehuacan Xipe Tótec, a pueblo we have visited, which was originally an island north of Tenochtitlan (see map above). 

Delegación/Alccaldía Benito Juárez (bright yellow)
sits south of Cuauhtémoc, site of Centro Historico,
and north of Coyoacán.

The intersection of roadways where la Ermita stood is at the center of the green/yellow star.
The Calzada de Tlalpan runs north to south.
The Calzada de Ermita-Iztapalapa is the thin grey line
running east from the center of the star.
Colonia Ermita is the green area peeking out from the bottom, right point of the star.

Original Villages | Pueblo Candelaria, Coyoacán: Fiesta of Candelaria, an Extra Special Occasion

The Two Roots of the Fiesta of Candelaria 

Candelaria, (in English, Candlemass) is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church on February 2, forty days after the birth of Jesus the Christ, celebrated on December 25. It was Jewish custom that a first-born son be presented at the Temple in Jerusalem the fortieth day after his birth. According to the Gospels, Mary and Joseph followed this tradition. Candelaria is the feast day celebrating this early event in the life of el Niño Jesús, the Child, or Infant, Jesus.

Presentation of Christ at the Temple
by Hans Holbein the Elder, 1500–01 (Kunsthalle, Hamburg)
Wikipedia

MCA Note: In the early fourth century, church leaders fixed the date of Jesus's birth as December 25. This was the date of the winter solstice on the Roman (Julian) calendar. When our current Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory in 1582, all dates were moved ten days ahead to align with the sun's positions during the solar year. The misalignment had developed over time because the Julian calendar did not include a leap year every four years needed to keep the calendar aligned with the sun's cycle of positions in relation to the earth. However, Christmas was kept on December 25. The decision to place Jesus' birth on the winter solstice also implied that he was conceived on the spring equinox, nine months earlier. Wikipedia.

February 2 also happens to mark the mid-point of the season of winter in the northern hemisphere (summer in the southern). It is one of the so-called "cross-quarter days" of the solar calendar, falling halfway between the "quarter days" of the winter solstice and the subsequent spring equinox, therefore marking one-eighth of a solar year (6.5 weeks or 45.5 days).

Andrés Medina Hernández, a researcher at the IIAM (Institute of Anthropological Research) of the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), has noted that Candelaria is celebrated with particular fervor in Mexico City, especially in the southern, more traditionally indigenous delegaciones (now alcaldías) of Iztapalapa, Tláhuac, Xochimilco and Milpa Alta, where there is a special veneration for El Niño Jesús, the child or infant Jesus, centered on Candelaria.

Most notable of these is el Niño Pa (the Child of This Place) in Xochimilco. He is a small wooden statue of the infant Jesus created in the 16th century, in the early years of the so-called Spiritual Conquest, the lengthy process of conversion of the indigenous by Spanish and other European monks to Christianity. (See our post: Xochimilco | Candelaria and el Niño Pa: Caring for the Infant God.)

El Niño pa,
carried by his majordomo, 
finishing his charge on Feb. 2, 2017

MCA Note: With this post, we are adding Delegación Coyoacán to this list. It has both a Pueblo Candelaria, featured in this post, and a Barrio El Niño Jesús. 

In addition to el Niño Pa, Xochimilco has four other special Niños Jesús, each of whom is kept by householders of a particular pueblo or barrio, not in a church. The householder is the mayordomo (caretaker) who changes annually. These Niños, like el Niño Pa, spend the year visiting homes in the delegación and even travel to other delegaciones. We first encountered el Niño Pa in Pueblo Xoco (HO-ko) in Delegación Benito Juárez, some nine miles north of Xochimilco.

It is on February 2, Candelaria, that the new mayordomos take charge of the image of each of these Niño Dios for one year. This marks the end of the Christmas season. Dr. Medina believes this veneration of el Niño Jesús has a close link with the ancient Mesoamerican agricultural calendar and religion. The celebration of Candelaria coincides with a Mesoamerican tradition of venerating the annual rebirth of the god of corn.

The Mexica god of maize (corn), Centeotl, was born on February 2, which was also the beginning of the Mexica solar year. His birth initiated the annual agricultural cycle of soil preparation, planting, cultivation and harvesting of corn. At harvest time, five ripened maize cobs were picked by elder Aztec women. Each was carefully wrapped, like a mother would wrap up a newborn child and then carried, like a child, in a shawl on the women's backs to their homes. There, they were placed in a special basket and kept until the following year and the beginning of the next agricultural cycle.

Medina also points out that there is a link between the birth of the god of corn and the eating of tamales and atole (a drink made of corn masa [dough], thinned with water and with various flavors added) on February 2. The masa (dough) of cornmeal is the symbolic flesh of the corn god and the atole is his blood. The word tamal or tamalli is Nahuatl and means "carefully wrapped" (as a newborn is wrapped).

Eating tamales and drinking atole on Candelaria is a traditional symbolic act very similar to Communion in Christianity. By consuming these foods, Mexicans eat the body and drink the blood of the newborn god of corn. In the Maya sacred book, the Popol Vuh, human beings were created from corn masa. Human existence in Mesoamerica depended on corn. This has a parallel in Judaism and Christianity, where, in the Book of Genesis, God molds man from soil in his image and likeness.

Furthermore, in the same way that a tamal is carefully wrapped, on Candelaria many families dress a figure of the Child God, which is kept in their home all year, with special garments, most often baptismal gowns. He is then taken to the church to be blessed and to pray for his protection of the family for the coming year.

MCA Note: This analysis of Candelaria by Dr. Medina was provided by Abraham Garcia, a student in anthropology in the National Autonomous University of Mexico and administrator of the Facebook page Fiestas Mágicas de los Pueblos y Barrios Originarios del Valle de Mexico, our indispensible guide.

Niño Jesús on Candelaria,
with ears of corn in a basket.

All of these primal, archetypal parallels between indigenous and Christian beliefs in the symbolism of Candelaria are among the many that helped make possible the syncretism of indigenous and Roman Catholic Christian religions that resulted in Mexican popular Catholicism. (For more on the elements and dynamics of this syncretism see our page, Mexico Traditional Popular Religious Culture.)

Candelaria in Pueblo Candelaria, Coyoacán

We have written about Pueblo Candelaria twice before, when, as part of the visits paid by el Señor de la Misericordia, the Lord of Compassion, each summer from his home in Pueblo Tres Santos Reyes (Three Holy Kings) to other pueblos in Coyoacán. We were present when he arrived for the first of two visits to Candelaria, which is Tres Reyes' neighbor, and again, at the end of his summer tour, when he returns to Tres Reyes from his second visit in Candelaria. Candelaria is the only pueblo he visits twice each summer. The two pueblos are closely bonded. Both entregas (handovers, deliveries) are grand events.

But we had never gone to Candelaria for the fiesta of its patron saint. It is not el Niño Jesús. (The nearby Barrio el Niño Jesus has its fiesta on January 1, the eighth day of Jesus' life and, according to Jewish custom, the day of his circumcision. We attended it last year.) The patron saint of Pueblo Candelaria is the Virgin of Candelaria, that is, the Virgin Mary in her advocación (representation) at the moment of her purification at the Temple forty days after Jesus' birth and, also, as the Queen of Heaven, which she became upon her assumption into heaven at the moment of her earthly death.

So early on the morning of February 2, a Saturday this year, not able to find any schedule of fiesta events on the internet, we go to Candelaria, hoping to witness a procession we have heard happens around 9 AM. However, when we arrive at the atrio (atrium) of the modern church (the original 16th-century one was replaced in the mid-20th century), not much seems to be happening.

A large floral portada of fresh flowers—always amazing in their complex design, vibrant colors and workmanship—covers the arches of the church entrance.

Portada made with fresh mums.
"The Lord stands firm for his pueblo´s (village and its people)
defense and salvation,
for its faithful ones he saves us.

But even more spectacular, taking up most of the large atrio is a huge tapete de aserrín, sawdust carpet, a fiesta tradition. The pueblo is well-known for its tapetes, created for each fiesta by a group of mostly young people, the Alfombristas Pueblo de la Candelaria Coyoacán (link is to its Facebook page; alfombra is another word for carpet, likely from Arabic). 

Tapete or alfombra de aserrín
This one is unusual, not only for its size,
but also for its lack of any specific religious symbolism.

Coming and going from the sanctuary are parishioners carrying their Niños Jesús, to be blessed today.

                                

A large wind band is playing on a stage to one side.

Entering the sanctuary, we find a few people praying. The Virgin is missing from her baldachin, the canopied space reserved, since medieval times, for a royal, or here, sacred Presence.

We find the Virgin, or two of her, on a table in one side aisle.
Patron saints are often kept in duplicate, one always to remain in the sanctuary,
the other for being carried through the pueblo in processions.
Both wear the crown of the Queen of Heaven.

Here, parishioners present their Niños Jesús for her blessing.
The burning of candles is part of the ritual, a symbol that Jesus is the light of the  world;
hence the fiesta's name, Candelaria, Candlemass.

We ask various parishioners when the procession is to occur. None seem sure of the time. Finally, one woman tells us that a schedule of all the fiesta events is posted outside. Such posters are standard for fiestas, and they are essential for us to know when the main events are going to happen. We did not see any on our way into the pueblo or in the atrio, but go in search, hoping to find one. There are none in the atrio and we begin to despair, when, walking back out into the main street, we suddenly spot one on the garage door of a home.

It tells us that the procession isn't today, but tomorrow at noon. At that time, the Virgin will meet saints arriving from other pueblos. The encounter will take place at the intersection of two main avenues that form the northeast boundary of the pueblo, Avenida Candelaria and Avenida Pacífico. We know the intersection well. It is exactly where el Señor de la Misericordia and the Virgin come together and where, the first Sunday in September, they part ways. Many saints from other pueblos had been present both times we were there, so we anticipate that this encounter will be on a similarly grand scale. Clearly, the Virgin of Candelaria is highly venerated beyond her own parish. 

The Virgin of Candelaria Welcomes the Saints of Other Pueblos to Her Fiesta

So, shortly before noon on Sunday, we arrive by taxi at the corner of Candelaria and Pacífico Avenues. Pacífico, south of Candelaria, is blocked to traffic by a cadre of city police. A crowd is gathered in the closed street. Having seen this scenario before, we know what is happening and hurry to wend our way through the crowd.

A Gathering of the Saints of Coyoacán

A short distance down the block we see the Virgin (in her pink version) standing on a flower-covered anda (platform) for being carried in the procession to the church.  

The Virgin of Candelaria,
Hostess of Her Day

Standing in front of her, on both sides of the southbound lanes of Pacifíco, a large number of saints are lined up on their andas. Having been, by now, to many fiestas in Coyoacán, including two others at this same spot, we recognize quite a few and know which pueblos they represent.

 

El Señor de la Misericordia, the Lord of Compassion
and los Tres Santos Reyes, Three Holy Kings
from Pueblo Tres Santos Reyes.

Niño Jesús, Child or Infant Jesus,
from Barrio Niño Jesús.

         

San Pablo, St. Paul,
from Pueblo San Pablo Tepetlapa;

San Sebastián
from Pueblo San Sebastián Xoco

Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles
from Barrio San Diego Churubusco;

San Domingo and San Francisco
from Colonia de Santo Domingo

San Luis Rey, Saint Louis, King of France
from the church dedicated to him
in Colonia Ajusco;

San Isidro, saint of farmer,
from Pueblo San Isidro, Michocán

Both saints were brought from the municipality of Nahuatzen, Michoacán
when large numbers of its Purépecha residents moved to Colonia Ajusco in the 1960s and 70s.

The Procession Gets Underway

There are several more saints waiting to join the procession, but we´ll have to wait to take their photos, as parishioners from Candelaria are picking up her anda and starting the procession into the pueblo. We have to hurry to get ahead of them before they enter the narrow barrio street, as we have learned that being at the front of a procession is the best position for finding good angles for shots.

The procession begins.

Three Virgins of Candelaria

Santiagueros,
Warriors for St. James who battle the "pagan" Moors.
We have seen them at several fiestas.

Chinelos, also frequent participants in processions of saints

Procession of the Saints of Coyoacán

The Virgin of Candelaria
then leads the procession of saints

Other saints that we weren't able to photograph while they were waiting, now pass by:

Virgin of Guadalupe

Santa Úrsula
of Barrio Santa Úrsula Coapa

El Señor de los Milagros
The Lord of Miracles,
from the church dedicated to Him
in Colonia Ajusco

San Lucas, St. Luke
of Barrio San Lucas

                             

San Domingo and San Francisco,
followed by San Luis Rey,
proceed through the callejas, narrow streets,
of Pueblo Candelaria.

The Virgen of Guadalupe,
Santa Úrsula and
San Sebastián

                                                                                                                                                          

The Virgin arrives in the atrio of her church.

Welcoming the Saints to the Church of Our Lady of Candelaria

Awaiting the Virgin, in her honor, is a tapete or alfombra de aserrín of Saint Teresa of Jesus
that, overnight, has replaced the circular one of the day before.
We thank an anonymous reader for telling us the correct name of the saint and 
that it was created by the group Arte y Diseño Villagrán Hermanos. (Villagrán Brothers Art and Design).

                      

The church bells, in the belfry,
which is the only remaining part of the original 16th-century church,
begin to be rung by an athletic joven (youth).

The Virgin
is carefully carried around the tapete,
towards the church.

She is placed to receive all of the visiting saints.

One by one, the saints are carried into the sanctuary.
The Virgin enters last.

The congregation waits while the visiting saints are placed near the altar.

Some carry their Ninos Jesús

In the choir loft, a group, mostly young people,
sing folk-style songs
with much ánimo, spirit.

All is ready for the Mass in veneration of the Virgin of Candelaria.

The Virgin (the one in pink) has been returned to the table in the side aisle,
where yesterday she was accompanied by one in blue.

The small version in blue, next to her, is known as a "demandita", "little petition",
a very portable form of a saint, used by individuals and families 
to represent some particular advocación, manifestation of the Virgin as an advocate
on behalf of the faithful to Her Son, Jesus the Christ, and God the Father.

Three Eminent Saints of Coyoacán

The Virgin, in blue, has been returned to her baldachín
behind the altar.

Placed in positions of special honor in front of her are
El Señor de la Misericordia
and
El Niño Jesús,

The Tres Santos Reyes stand below them.

They are the saints of Candelaria's neighboring pueblos.

The placement of El Señor de la Misericordia and El Niño Jesús immediately in front of la Virgen de Candelaria is, we think, a symbolic expression of their special importance for all the original pueblos of Coyoacán. El Señor de la Misericordia, the Lord of Compassion, holds a special status in all the pueblos, demonstrated by his elaborately enacted series of visits to them each summer. The feast day of Candelaria is a celebration both of the Virgin Mother and her holy child, el Niño Jesus. Here, today, in the Church of Our Lady of Candelaria, they are brought together.

The importance of the Virgin of Candelaria among the original pueblos of Coyoacán is also demonstrated by the participation of virtually all those pueblos' saints in the procession and the culminating Mass. This extensive participation does not occur at the patron saint fiestas of the other pueblos. Here, in Coyoacán, as throughout all of Mexico, the Virgin holds a place of unique eminence. She is the Mother of the Son of God incarnate, as manifested in the feast of Candelaria. She is the mother of the Son who is crucified to save from their sins and death all who accept him as Savior, as embodied here by the Lord of Compassion. And in her advocación as the Virgin of Guadalupe, also present today, she is the Mother of Mexico. 

Delegaciones of Mexico City
Coyoacán is the purple delegación in the center.

Pueblos, barrios and colonias of Delegción Coyoacán

Pueblo Candelaria is the starred, yellow pueblo.
Pueblo los Tres Santos Reyes, home of el Señor de la Misericordia,
is green pueblo just west of Candelaria.
Barrio El Niño Jesús is blue area just west of Tres Reyes.