Temple repair progresses in the Guerrero neighborhood

Seven years after the 2017 earthquake, the reconstruction of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Los Angeles, the second most important in the country’s capital after the Basilica of Guadalupe, reached 80 percent progress. Its reopening is scheduled for 2025, as an example of the cultural resilience of Mexico Citythey informed The Day María del Carmen Castro Barrera, National Coordinator of Conservation of Cultural Heritage, and Antonio Mondragón Lugo, Director of Technical Support of said coordination of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), during a tour of the repair work.

We have 20 percent of work left to do. We still need to close the dome, rehabilitate annex spaces and dismantle the auxiliary structure that allowed us to protect the property during the rehabilitation process.Mondragón Lugo explained.

The temple located in the Guerrero neighborhood, 700 meters from Tlatelolco, presides over the square of the same name and is of great importance due to its architectural characteristics, the assets (stained glass windows, murals, paintings and sphinxes) that it houses and the religious services it provides. to the community.

Neoclassical in style, dating from 1808; It was built with gray quarry from the mines of this material, located near the Los Remedios River, in Naucalpan, state of Mexico. The distinctive features of its building include a series of Corinthian columns inside and a half-orange-shaped dome (with eight segments).

This vault is the fourth largest built in the city, made of pure masonry and lime mortar, without concrete or steel. Only the churches of Our Lady of Loreto, the Metropolitan Cathedral and Santa Teresa La Antigua have a larger one.

A case of unprecedented complexity

Five days after the September 19, 2017 earthquake, 40 percent of the dome collapsed. The collapse damaged five of the eight stained glass windows, manufactured by the Mayer House in Germany. In addition, walls and arches showed cracks and fissures.

Everything has been a challenge since the day the collapse occurred. I have been doing restoration for many years, and I don’t know of a case with this complexity in our country.added the director of Technical Support.

In the midst of a controversy between those who fought for its demolition and those who wanted its conservation, the construction of a structure was carried out to give stability to the enclosure, and a cover to protect it from rain, which could cause further deterioration.

In a second moment, maintenance was carried out on the Camarín de la Virgen, to protect the sphinxes of saints that this temple houses and so that the parishioners could use the space while the rehabilitation continued on the rest of the site.

In an interview, Antonio Mondragón Lugo, from the INAH, reported that the dome needs to be closed, the annex spaces rehabilitated and the auxiliary scaffolding dismantled. Photo Roberto García Ortiz

The next thing was to close the cracks in the temple, as well as strengthening the foundation. In the emerging stage, the consolidation of what was left standing and the restitution of 40 percent that was lost in the collapse continue.

Interviewed from one of the catechism rooms, which for the moment is improvised as a center for monitoring the progress of the work, Aimée Mancilla Porraz, representative of Eco-Estudio, one of the five companies involved in the work, said that the biggest challenge has been to understand the building as a living organism, “which every day has to be studied and analyzed.

Due to the collapse and compaction of the soil, the dome no longer has its original geometry, it is no longer a regular geometric shape, it now works differently. Understanding that, plotting the points in the spaces, generating the masonry and making it a reality so that it holds has been the biggest challenge.Mancilla added.

The community, in expectation

Adrián Vázquez Velázquez, parish priest of the sanctuary, told this media that the parishioner is excited about the repair and the expectation that it can soon be reopened.

The community is very happy with the progress, we are in the most critical part. This is the most visible moment for the community and that creates a lot of expectation, a lot of hope to see the glorious sanctuary open again.

The church serves the first section of the Guerrero neighborhood and part of Tlatelolco, although it is visited by parishioners from various parts of the world. Before the earthquake, all Catholic rites used to take place at the site: baptisms, weddings, quinceañeras, devotion to the Virgin and Sunday masses.

Some parishioners become desperate, but I explain to them that we are going calmly. They ask about the dome, which is the most visible, but I explain what is missing and the complexity of the work.

While the restoration progresses, some rooms attached to the temple, the Camarín de la Virgen, and even a tent stretched on Lerdo Street are functional to continue with religious activities.

The federal administration has promoted the reconstruction of more than 3,200 properties of heritage value affected by the 2017 earthquake. In the case of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Los Angeles, 37 million pesos have been invested, according to the government’s Ministry of Culture from Mexico.