Santo Domingo (Mexico City)

Santo Domingo in Mexico City refers to the Church of Santo Domingo and its Plaza, also called Santo Domingo. Both are located three blocks north of the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral following Republica de Brasil Street with Belisario Dominguez Street separating the two. cite book |title= Lonely Planet Mexico City |last=Noble |first=Joshn |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2000 |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |location=Oakland, CA |isbn=1 86450 087 5 |pages=113-114 |url= ]

The Church

Officially known as the Señor de la Expiración Chapel,cite book |title=Mexico City Historic Center |last=Galindo |first=Carmen |authorlink= |coauthors=Magdelena Galindo |year=2002 |publisher=Ediciones Nueva Guia |location=Mexico City |isbn=968 5437 29 7 |pages=114-115 |url= ] the church is located on the north side of Belisario Dominguez and faces the plaza. It is all that is left from the first convent to be established in New Spain. The monastery that the church used to be part of was destroyed during the mid 19th century anti-clerical movement.It is Baroque architecture made of pink stone, begun in 1717 and finished in 1736. It is the third church to stand on this spot. The first church was built with the convent, and the second church was built between 1556 and 1571.

It is decorated on the east side with stone figures of Saint Dominic and Saint Francis. Their arms are intertwined and shown to be literally holding up the Church of Letrán] .The front facade has twelve columns around the main entrance, with Saint Francis and Saint Augustine on the first floor. On the second floor, a stone relief depicts Saint Dominic kneeling as he receives the keys of heaven from Saint Peter and the Epistles from Saint Paul as the Holy Spirit rises above the group. In the center at the top is a bas relief of the Assumption located between two windows that light the choir area.

Inside, the main altarpiece is neoclassical and the work of Manuel Tolsá. The altar to the left of the transept is dedicated to the Virgin of Covadonga. On a wall in the wide central area, there is a large niche containing the image of the Virgin Mary. Above this is a sculpture depicting the scene at the Calvary. Higher still is an oil painting of the Coronation of Mary and at the crest is the cross of the Battle of Covandonga between two windows. Each of the lateral windows has two oil paintings decorating them and finished with the coat-of-arms of Castille as well as the emblem of the Dominican order. This area is completed with the reliefs of saints and the carvings of cherubs. At the right of the transept, there is the Virgin del Camino altarpiece created by Alonso López de Herrera. The altarpiece contains figures called the "Descent," "Saint Dominic in Soriano," and gilded statues of the martyrs Saint Peter and Vicente Ferrer.

Next to it is the neo-Baroque Rosario Chapel which dates from 1946.

The Plaza

To the south of the church is Plaza San Domingo. It is flanked to the west by the Portal de Evangelistas, which is a Tuscan colonnade with round arches. Scribes with typewriters and antique printing machines work in this Portal. Scribes offer their services to illiterate clients, often offering services similar to that of lawyers, counselors, and financial consultants. A statue of Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, a heroine of the Mexican War of Independence stands in a fountain in the middle of the plaza. It was sculpted by Enrique Alcati.

Unfortunately, this area is also very well-known for the falsification of documents. According to the intelligence division of the Policia Judicial of the Distrito Federal, in addition to the 242 print shops that operate legally in this zone, there have noted 614 cases of printers set up to falsify documents in the various apartments and other living quarters that surround this area. Most of these are located on La Plaza 23 de Mayo, República de Cuba, República de Chile an Justo Sierra Streets. cite news |first=Mario |last=Torres |title= Ubican centrod de falsificacion en Santo Domingo|url=http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/503510.html |format= |work= |publisher=Televisa |location=Mexico City |date=2006-01-12 |accessdate=2008-10-05 |language=Spanish ]

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