Ruta Dominica (Dominican Route) of Oaxaca: San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Church West Façade

The work of colonial-era Mixtec stone-carvers and artisans lives untouched in this old monastery in the Mixteca Alta.  This mountainous area, the Mixteca Alta, lying to the northwest of Oaxaca City is home to a group of great 16th century Dominican monasteries built long ago to further the evangelization of Oaxaca. One of them, the magnificent Santo Domingo de Yanhuitlan, has already been explored in this blog (May 20, 2013). The  long (1/12-2 hours) car ride to this rugged area is worthwhile and can be done as a day trip.  San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca is the earliest and least changed of the great Dominican monasteries of the Mixteca Alta.  The Dominicans arrived here in the 1540's and by 1570 the buildings were completed. (note: please click on photos and they will enlarge).

Grounds-plan:

All the monasteries were built in a similar pattern. The open chapel was the first structure to rise up, built to further the evangelization of a people who did not have a concept of indoor worship,  then the church and the cloister (convento) to house the monks. Looking head on at the Coixtlahuaca complex, the hexagonal open chapel is seen at the very left, separated by a small distance from the church, which is next to it, viewer-right, and next to and attached to the church is the monastery's convento or cloister, the monks' residence. At a distance from the church/convento complex was what was called the casa de la cacica or in the Mixtec language, tecpan, something not seen in other areas of Oaxaca.  In the Mixtec- controlled areas, the local indigenous nobility still played a significant role in the early colonial community and this tecpan was built to house the local chief. In general, this person was the first to convert to Christianity and his presence on the monastery grounds was a symbolic encouragement for his people to follow suit and accept the new religion.


                                                     

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Open Chapel

San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca,  North façade of church

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Convento entrance

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Church seen from interior courtyard of convento

Open Chapel:

This chapel, built in 1546, was the earliest part of the monastery.  The polygonal vault which once covered it has collapsed and it is now open to the sky.

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Open Chapel

The chapel is characterized by bands of tequitqui carving, a syncretic style that included both indigenous and Christian symbols. Tequitqui carving tended to have a flattened appearance resembling that of pre-Hispanic carving styles.  

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Open Chapel rib detail

In the following photo eagle-like pelicans intertwine with plumed rattlesnakes.

San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, Open Chapel rib carving

The presence of the indigenous symbols in this new house of worship was powerful for the new converts forming a bridge to their old religion and its temples.

The Church:

Exterior:

The church building is not ornamented apart from its two doors.  The north door was the one  used in processions in the early Colonial period.

San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, West Façade of Church

                                       

Three large statues are carved above the door in a style that clearly reflects the work of the indigenous carvers. St. John the Baptist, the monastery's patron saint, is in the center flanked by Saints Peter and Paul. Above these is a Gothic rose window with intricate carving on either side. 

San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, North Façade of  Church

On both sides of the upper façade are intricate carvings of the elements of Christ's Passion, as seen in the photo below.                                        
                                             

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, North Façade - Elements of the Passions

                                                

The west door and facade are more classical in style, but contain tequitqui elements.
In particular, the triangular element above the door consists of the Spanish coat of arms 
surrounded by the two-headed Hapsburg eagle, an animal that had strong indigenous resonance. The church has a single tower.

   

San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca, West Façade

                                                      

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, North Door of Church

                                                   

                                                   

Interior:

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Church Interior seen from Choir

                                                                                                       

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Main Retablo

                                                       

This main retablo has fourteen painted panels many of which are attributed to Andres de Concha a Spanish master from Seville.  Simon Peyrens, the Flemish sculptor, may have done some of the carving on the altarpiece.  Here is the arrangement of the paintings in this retablo, from the top down, in rows: (photo will enlarge when clicked).

                                                              God the Father

                                                    St. Anne, Trinity, St. Joachim

                                                    Ascension, Crucifixion, Resurrection

                                                    Presentation in the Temple, Three Kings

                                                    Adoration of the Shepherds, Annunciation

Church Ceiling:

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Church Ceiling

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Church ceiling ribbing

                                                                 

                        

      

San Juan Bautista, Coixlahuaca, Church ceiling Roof Boss

                                                                                     

The church's ribbed ceiling is unique with the molded, painted ribs and the tequitqui carved roof bosses. Each contains miniature portraits of saints and their symbols.  

The Convento:

The convento is located alongside the church building of the Coixtlahuaca monastery.
Only the lower is intact, although it is possible to visit parts of the upper level which over the years has been damaged by earthquakes.  Some reconstruction is on-going on this second level.

                               

                                             

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Convento entrance

                                                

                                                

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Convento Door and Façade

                                                 

The convento is located directly next to the church and the two buildings share a wall.

                                              

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Church-Convento shared wall

                                              

San Juan Bautista, Coixlahuaca, Convento Courtyard

As many early colonial Mexican buildings, Coixtlahuaca's convento shows mudejar  (derived from Islamic architecture ) details in features of the building such as the door and window below.

    

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Convento Corridor

          

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Convento Mudejar-style Door

             

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Mudejar Window

In parts of the Coixtlahuaca convento, remnants of the original wall frescos remain.

                

San Juan Bautista, Coixlahuaca, original fresco 

                                                        

The Tecpan:

The building in the old photograph below, the tecpan or casa de la cacica, was the home of the indigenous noble who led the community and encouraged the conversion effort.  This building, which no longer exists, was torn down and the bricks used to build another building for the modern community. It was built with considerable ornamental detail, as can be seen in the second photo.

San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca, Tecpan (no longer in existence)

San Juan Coixtlahuaca, Tecpan architectural detail

         

Although the neighboring monastery at Yanhuitlan has been elegantly restored and the one at Teposcolula is undergoing extensive restoration, San Juan Bautista, Coixtlahuaca retains an aura of authenticity because it has not been restored.   I visited both Coixtlahuaca and Teposcolula in the same day and the former, by far, was my favorite.  INAH, the Mexican government bureau which oversees archaeological and historical sites, has a representative in all major monasteries.  Here, at Coixtlahuaca, this representative was extremely gracious and helpful and unlocked the choir loft of the church giving me the chance to access an incredible perspective on the old church as well as offering information and photos of the no longer existant tecpan.                                                                                       

Person or Statue: The Complex Religious Images of Latin America

Image of Jesus Nazarene, Viacrucis Aquatic, Granada, Nicaragua

When I first shared photos from the Via Cruces Aquatic from Holy Week in Granada Nicaragua, a friend asked me if the red-robed figure you can see at the front of the boat was a statue or a person.  Another friend, a priest, jokingly asked if it was me. As I thought about it, I realized that these comments are much more profound than they seem.

The figure in the red robe is Jesus Nazareno, one of the Jesus images used in Holy Week events in Latin America. (For a fuller discussion of these images, please refer to the March 28, 2013 post of this blog: "Jesus of Mexican Holy Week"). Here is the front of this image:

Jesus Nazareno, Viacrucis Aquatic, Holy Tuesday, Granada Nicaragua

Jesus Nazareno, Viacrucis Aquatic, Holy Tuesday, Granada Nicaragua

As you can see the image is wearing a wig made of human hair and the eyes are glass and life-like and it is definitely more true-to-life than the marble or plaster statues we are used to in churches in this country. This is the way the religious images of Latin America are created; they were meant to be true to life to make the Christianity more "real" to the newly-converted indigenous peoples of the region.

These images are treated like people in many ways; they are dressed and cared for and the  celebration of their festivals orchestrated by groups known as cofradias or confraternities, each of which is headed by a mayordomo, who are predominantly male although there are some females, as well.  In the photo below, the words "Cofradia de Jesus Nazareno" are written on the back of the blue t-shirt worn by the woman indicating that she is a member of the group from her church responsible for the image of Jesus in the above three photos.  She was the one in charge of collecting the donations that the many other boats participating in this Viacrucis Aquatic would give to this lead boat containing the image.

Jesus Nazareno cofradia member, Viacrucis Aquatic, Granada Nicaragua

Religious images are an important part of Latin American church communities.

They are central to the worship of a congregation, a focus of religious life and play a role in the financial life of the church.

Religious processions are a focus of life in Latin American cities, such as the Holy Wednesday procession seen below in Granada Nicaragua.  In it the revered images that are the focus of Holy Week, the last week of Jesus' earthly life and ministry, are carried from the church and through the city's streets in beautiful and reverent processions of enormous intensity that are the focus of the entire community. 

Holy Wednesday Procession, La Merced Church, Granada Nicaragua

Below, church members carried an image of Jesus a long distance to be used in a procession in another town.

Group transporting image, Masaya, Nicaragua

On Holy Wednesday evening and Holy Thursday day in Nicaragua churches bring certain images out for the people to see at closer view, touch and to buy religious objects connected with the image. This is both an opportunity for people to be physically close to the images they simultaneously revere and love and for the church to make the money it needs for the care for these images and the church itself. The leafy structures the images are in are called "huertos", which roughly translates as "garden" and some of the huertos can be very elaborate and beautiful, decorated with fruits and vegetables.    

Image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Holy Wednesday, Granada, Nicaragua

Image of Jesus, Holy Wednesday, Granada, Nicaragua

Image of Mary, Holy Wednesday, Granada, Nicaragua

Religious Articles for Sale, Holy Wednesday, Granada, Nicaragua

The Good Friday morning procession in León reflected the kinds of feelings that the people have for these images.  Here, in the photo below, as the image of Mary met with that of Jesus the crowd broke out into applause.  To them, there was no line between image and person.

Images of Jesus and Mary Meeting in Procession, Leon, Nicaragua

On Good Friday, as in all Christian services, between the hours of 12 and 3, the hour of the crucifixion, there was a long service in the church in Subtiava, Leon.  At 3 pm, the traditional hour of Jesus' death, his image was removed from the cross with much ceremony and placed in the gilded tomb that would be carried in the Good Friday procession. 

Image of Jesus Crucified, Good Friday, León, Nicaragua

                               

             Image of Jesus in Tomb, (Señor Sepultado), before Good Friday procession, León, Nicaragua

I was totally unprepared for what happened.  As Jesus' body was transferred to the tomb, a crowd of people rushed forward to watch, many of them with cell phones in hand taking pictures. These were not tourists but believers, members of the church.  For them, the reality of what was happening was so intense, that they were reacting as if someone had really been killed.

Church members in front of Jesus in Tomb, Good Friday, León Nicaragua

Roots of the Image in Meso-american cultures:

It may be difficult for many people raised in the United States and other western European cultures to understand this kind of attachment to images.  It is not idolatry, but something of another order. The Protestant Reformation with its suspicion of images colored much of the Christianity that followed it. Images remained important in Spanish Catholicism which was a breed apart from the religious life of Europe and this influenced the form Catholicism took in its colonies. 

Anthropologist Serge Gruzinski, a specialist in Latin American cultures, feels that there is also something else at work.  This, he cites, is the notion of of ixiptla,  inherent in the pre-hispanic cultures of the area, that divinity could be contained in objects. "The ixiptla was the container for power; the localizable epiphanic presence; the actualization of the power infused into an image." * In this scenario, an image is not just a representation of something

but actually contains the power of the divinity it represents.  

The people I see in Latin America want to be near these images, to touch them, and through touch absorb their divine energy.  Below is a piece of cloth that was for sale Holy Wednesday evening.  It had been touched to the reclining image of Jesus seen below and  is believed to contain the divine energy of the image with which it was in contact. It was being sold for a very small amount of money and was meant to be pinned to clothing and worn close to the body.

Holy article sold at Holy Wednesday display of images, Granada, Nicaragua

  

Image of Jesus, Holy Wednesday, Granada Nicaragua

Conclusion:

Holy Week in Latin American is a very powerful experience for both the believers who participate in the rituals, as well as visitors to the area who may not even participate in Catholic religious beliefs.  What makes it a powerful experience is the palpable love and reverence of the people there for their religious images, who are "real" in so many ways.These images are confidants, healers, and hold out hope to many who do not have much.  These images belong to everyone from the richest to the penniless street beggar, accept the love of all, and are available with completely equality, which is so different than much of life in the Latin American world.  

*Serge Gruzinski, "Images at War", 2001, p. 50.

An Ancient Ritual Comes to Life in Nandaime, Nicaragua: Holy Wednesday Flagellants

Holy Wednesday, Nandaime Nicaragua

                                   

The person in the photo above may look like a street thug, but he actually is a participant in one of the most unique Holy Week events in Nicaragua and you will not read about this event in Nicaragua guide-books. Nandaime hosts one of the most original interpretations of Holy Week rituals on its streets  the Wednesday before Easter, Holy Wednesday. This day, to all appearances, looked like a normal day in this small town in the Southwest of Nicaragua town about a half-hour outside of the lovely colonial city of Granada.  

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The town was quiet, but there was an atmosphere of anticipation and people were lined up along the steers waiting for something.

One tour brochure had stated that at Noon on Holy Wednesday, the church bells ring and "people start making a lot of noise". It turned out that the noise was a part of something a whole lot bigger and extremely interesting.

Santa Ana church, Nandaime, Nicaragua

Santa Ana church, Nandaime, Nicaragua

Above is the town's church, peaceful with its courtyard empty.  Yet, the rest of Nandaime was anything but peaceful that day.  Minutes before, at noon, the church bells had rung 

and a crowd of costumed people, mostly young, had taken off from its courtyard brandishing whips. One can be seen below taking a rest.  The crowd's objective was to hit (and I can personally attest, not lightly) anyone one in their path or anyone they could lay hands on. 

Holy Wednesday Participants, Nandaime Nicaragua

Holy Wednesday participants, Nandaime Nicaragua

The armed horde made two rounds of the town's streets streets and at 12:30 sharp they returned to the church yard and it was all over.  Costumes were removed and there was no more whipping.  The whole event lasted exactly one half hour and despite the seeming free-for-all atmosphere, was very structured and ritualized. 

Yard of Santa Ana Church, Nandaime Nicaragua

The Tools:

Whip used Holy Wednesday, Nandaime Nicaragua

Whip used Holy Wedneday, Nandaime Nicaragua

Whip used Holy Wednesday, Nandaime Nicaragua

The Flagellantes:

Medieval Spanish Flagellante

Self-whipping has existed within various religious groups since ancient times as a personal practice of penance for sins.  Around the 11th century in Europe it became more wide-spread and popular as a form of penance within the Catholic church and was taken up by radical factions within the church, later to be condemned by the church as heretical and banned by many rulers.  These groups of flagellants in Medieval Europe would march en masse through the cities whipping themselves, and bleeding as a public show of piety.  It was a popular movement that cropped up throughout Europe particularly in times of famine or plague; it was believed that self-mortification purged sins.  

The resemblance of this Nandaime participant to the Medieval flagellant above is unmistakeable, with the exception that he had not been whipping himself, but everyone else he could get to. Despite the excitement and laughter, the roots of this celebration are quite profound.

Holy Wednesday participant, Nandaime, Nicaragua

On a much smaller scale, processions of hooded flagellants are still a feature in Mediterranean Catholic countries and in Latin America. Penitential practices are often tied to the church season of Lent, of which Holy Week is a part. Nowadays they are more often symbolic than the out and out self-mortification of former times; the Holy Wednesday event in Nandaime is one such instance. Likely, flagellation was once practiced more openly in the area, and the low-level, time-limited whipping that is a part of Holy Wednesday is a cultural memory of these events. 

Nandaime's Holy Wednesday whipping spree is an accepted part of the towns' culture and more or less taken for granted by the people there as a fun event.  Everyone seems to have a lot of fun with it despite the occasional painful hit.  Although it may look like wanton aggression to the visitor, it is very ritualized and religious in nature.  It begins in at the church with church bells and ends there as well. 

Holy Wednesday in Nandaime is an enactment of the ancient flagellatory practices with a twist- the participants are not whipping themselves, as in the old times, but are whipping everyone else; everyone, willing or not, gets to participate in the penitential activity.   Holy Wednesday in Nandaime is both a remembrance of the old penitential practices and a modern parody of them that stands the old practice of self-flagellation on its head. It is unclear whether or not the mostly young participants in the Holy Wednesday melee are aware of its origins.