This bulletin will
concentrate on urban planning, architecture, and one or two other aspects of
culture in the broader sense of the term. Zamora was founded by the Spanish in
1574. Unlike many other Mexican towns this was a novel foundation, not built on
an existing indigenous settlement.
 |
| The cathedral and zócalo, Zamora |
In typical Spanish
style, the centre of the urban plan is the plaza, or in Mexican parlance, the
zócalo, still surrounded in part by colonnades. The cathedral occupies one
side. The centre is planted with shade trees and small areas of garden with
seating, and in the centre is the obligatory bandstand. Last Sunday the music
was played by the Gran Banda Orquesta de Jacona (a nearby town), whose tunes
from the bandstand occasionally drowned out the priests’ words at Sunday mass,
until the bells struck back drowning out the Gran Banda. The Cathedral is in a
rather restrained Neoclassical style. It dates from the mid-19th
century and was designed by Eduardo Tresguerras (his last name means “three
wars”), a notable architect at the time.
 |
| Bandstand and Gran Banda Orquesta de Jacona |
Around the corner from
the cathedral is the equally Neoclassical church of San Francisco.
 |
| Santuario de Guadalupe |
The largest structure
in town by a considerable margin is the Sanctuary of our Lady of Guadalupe,
nicknamed, as one of our hosts here informed us, “la inconclusa” because of the
long time it took to be completed. Work began in 1898, to be interrupted by the
Mexican Revolution in 1914. Construction finished in 2006, although some work continues
on decorative details such as sculptures and balustrades. The style is
imitation Gothic in a dark grey stone. The towers dominate the modest skyline
of Zamora from anywhere in the valley. The Virgin of Guadalupe is extraordinarily
important in Mexico. She appeared miraculously during the colonial period to a
Mexican Indian on a hill north of central Mexico City and inspires great
devotion.
Zamora seems still to
be a very Catholic town. Certainly, in the 1930s this region was a strong
supporter of the Cristiada, a revolt against the anticlerical government. To
this day, a church marriage in Mexico has no legal standing, although the days
of official anticlericalism are long past.
 |
| Centro Regional de las Artes |
Next to the Sanctuary
is Zamora’s great political white elephant. The wife of President Vicente Fox
(in office 2000-2006) is from a wealthy Zamora family. She decided to bestow on
the town a cultural centre. The building is a huge white modern cantilevered
affair, clearly intended to be Zamora’s modern architectural statement. Alas,
once Fox left office the state of Michoacán ran out of money to fund it and the
centre now sits closed and silent.
 |
| The Mercado Morelos |
Just off the zócalo,
to one side of the cathedral is the 19th-century red-stone Mercado
Morelos, named after José María Morelos, the great leader of the struggle for Independence
from Spain. The market is now largely given over to selling sweets (Mexicans
love sugar), the main market being a walk across the street. This is the
Mercado Hidalgo, named after the priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who launched
the war of Independence, but died before it was achieved ten years later. This
is a huge sprawling affair that fills streets far around the market building
itself, which is barely visible behind the plastic sheeting of the street
sellers.
 |
| Calle Francisco I Madero |
If you take the main
street, Francisco I Madero (“The Apostle of Democracy” and a hero of the
Mexican Revolution of 1910: Mexican history if full of heroes) south you
eventually come to a large crossroads. Heading further south you are on the
causeway to Jacona, a neighbouring town of prehispanic origins, that we plan to
visit this weekend. We have not been there yet, but instead we turned onto
Virrey de Mendoza avenue, which runs West-East. This is Zamora’s answer to
North American consumerism: a few blocks of modern, glitzy shops and
restaurants. Eventually, the glitz gives way to the more Mexican jumble of car
repair yards, electrical repair shops, assorted small stores, and the
inevitable Farmacia.
On the subject of
architecture, I should describe the Colegio de Michoacán (Colmich) to which we
stroll every weekday at 9:50 or so. Colmich is set behind high walls in carefully
tended gardens. There are three modern buildings linked by a first-floor walkway
and a third-floor roof garden, complete with solar panels. Each building is set
round a rectangular garden. The library and administration building is a
separate, large structure well-lit by a glass roof over an open area of work
tables. Colmich is a graduate institution and the teacher to student ratio is
very high.
 |
| Walkway to the Centro de Historia, Colegio de Michoacán |
Jan has been assigned
some tasks in the library which I only vaguely understand. She has been given a
north-facing office, which apparently is a great privilege. I have an office in
the Centre of Historical Studies (CEH) but spend most of my time in the library
where my books have been assembled for me, and placed on a trolley for my
convenience. Last Wednesday I was given a formal welcome by the CEH, at which I
gave a presentation of my project and answered questions. I survived.
 |
| Biblioteca Luis Gonález, Colegio de Michoacán |
Last Friday we were
given a tour of the library, and in the special collections we were shown a
portion of an illustrated manuscript in Otomí (an indigenous language), with
occasional lapses into Spanish. Since it was written in Roman characters and
includes occasional phrases in Spanish, the scribe was almost certainly an
Otomí who must have received education from the Spaniards. The manuscript is
thought to date from the 1640s and was found in a small Otomí village. It
recounts the conquest of the Otomí people by a Spanish Conquistador and his
indigenous allies in the 1520s. The illustrations include dramatic battle
scenes, with Spaniards armed with arquebuses (an early firearm), Otomí fighters
armed with bows, and arrows flying in all directions.
 |
| Lunch at the cafeteria, Colegio de Michoacán |
At about 2pm we head
for the Colmich restaurant managed by Lety. Her sister is the chef. Lunch
consists of the obligatory soup, a main dish with rice, beans and vegetables,
and dessert (usually ice cream). Tables are set on the terrace around the
building looking on to the gardens: butterflies and hummingbirds accompany us.
As far as cuisine, is
concerned the local delicacy is chongos, a dessert made from the milk of
newly lactating cows and piloncillo, a hard brown sugar produced as a
residue of processing cane sugar, and cinnamon. They are quite delicious, but
not suitable for those on a diet.
And, as to weather,
the day starts agreeably warm, gets pretty hot by lunch time, then cools down
for an evening of pleasant breezes.
No comments:
Post a Comment