page_title: Fray Juan de Torquemada
section_title: Architect
hierarchical_section_title: Fray Juan de Torquemada / Life / At Tlatelolco, 1603-1612 / Architect
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of Santiago Tlatelolco, host of the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco (first European school of higher learning in the Americas), Mexico City, Mexico. Español: Iglesia de Santiago Tlatelolco, donde se ubica el Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco (primera escuela de estudios superiores europea in América), Ciudad de México, México. Français&#160;: Intérieur de l'église Santiago de Tlatelolco (Saint-Jacques de Tlatelolco), un quartier de la ville de Mexico, au Mexique. Elle fait partie du Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, le plus ancien établissement européen d'enseignement supérieur en Amérique. Bosanski: Crkva Santiago Tlatelolco, sjedište Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco (prve evropske više škole u Americi), Mexico City, Meksiko. Čeština: Kostel ve městě Santiago Tlatelolco, stojící na území vysoké školy Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, (první vysoké školy "evropského stylu" na všech amerických kontinentech), Mexico City, Mexiko. Magyar: A Santiago Tlatelolco-templom, a Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco (az első európai felsőoktatási intézmény Amerikában) befogadója Mexikóvárosban, Mexikó fővárosában Italiano: Interno della chiesa di Santiago Tlatelolco, all'interno del Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco a Città del Messico, la prima scuola superiore europea nelle Americhe. 한국어: 멕시코 시티 틀라텔롤코 산타 크루스 학교(아메리카 최초의 유럽 고등 교육 학교)의 주인인 산티아고 틀라텔롤코 교회. Македонски: Црквата „Сантјаго Тлателолко“ во градот Мексико — дом на првата високошколска установа во Америка. Русский: Церковь Сантьяго-Тлателолько — месторасположение коллегиума Санта-Крус де Тлателолько в Мехико.
context_page_description: Juan de Torquemada was a Franciscan friar, active as missionary in Spanish colonial Mexico and considered the "leading Franciscan chronicler of his generation." Administrator, engineer, architect and ethnographer, he is most famous for his monumental work commonly known as Monarquía indiana, a survey of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of New Spain together with an account of their conversion to Christianity, first published in Spain in 1615 and republished in 1723. Monarquia Indiana was the "prime text of Mexican history, and was destined to influence all subsequent chronicles until the twentieth century." It was used by later historians, the Franciscan Augustin de Vetancurt and most importantly by eighteenth-century Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero. No English translation of this work has ever been published.
context_section_description: Commencing in 1604, Torquemada took in hand the construction of a new church of Santiago de Tlatelolco, a project which had been stalled for many years.  He reported that it proceeded in great part thanks to contributions in cash and kind by local Indians, many of whom donated their labour. It is notable for the massive bases of the towers flanking the main entrance, designed to resist earthquake.
  
  The work was completed in 1609 or 1610, and on 14 July 1610 the church was consecrated.  It was built in the form of a Latin cross with a series of shallow domes in the vault over the nave and a large dome over the crossing, with a semi-dome over the apse.  The following day, on Sunday 15 July 1610 (the feast of Santiago) the altarpiece or retablo behind the high altar was inaugurated.  This sumptuous structure was arranged in four registers with an apex.  It was decorated with 14 paintings by the celebrated Basque painter Baltasar de Echave Orio (who is also credited with designing the retablo), alternating with carved wooden statues standing in niches.  At the centre of the second register, directly above the later neo-classic ciborium (presumptively installed in the first decades of the 19th century and visible in a 19th century lithograph which shows the arrangement of the retablo), was a carved and painted panel in high relief of the patron saint of the church, Santiago Matamoros, the only part of the retablo that has survived.  Torquemada applauded the skill of the Indian craftsmen and singled out for praise one of those who worked on the retablo, Miguel Mauricio, calling him an artist second to none among the Spanish. 
  Most of the decoration of the church was either removed by the civil authorities, looted, damaged or destroyed during the turmoil of the era of La Reforma in the mid-19th century.  The church then became a customs warehouse, and as late as 1944 the convent was a military gaol; but the use of the church has since been restored to the Franciscans and the Santiago panel has been returned to its original location on the wall above the altar.
  A curious episode attaches to the building of the church.  Allegations were made that Torquemada had exploited and abused the Indian workforce and had severely beaten one particular labourer "almost to death" (a punto de muerte). An official investigation was initiated by the Archbishop of México on 16 February 1605, but there is no record of the outcome and there was no interruption to Torquemada's work on the church.
caption: Interior of the church of Santiago de Tlatelolco
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