page_title: Cholula, Puebla
section_title: Nuestra Señora de los Remedios church
hierarchical_section_title: Cholula, Puebla / Pyramid of Cholula and Our Lady of Remedies Church / Nuestra Señora de los Remedios church
caption_attribution_description: English: Nave of the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios church in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico
context_page_description: Cholula, officially Cholula de Rivadavia is a city and district located in the center west of the state of Puebla, near Puebla City, in central Mexico. Cholula is best known for its Great Pyramid, with the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios sanctuary on top, as well as its numerous churches. The city and district are divided into two, San Pedro Cholula and San Andrés Cholula, which together are officially called the Distrito Cholula de Rivadavia. Surrounding the city proper is a number of more rural communities which belong to the municipalities of San Andrés and San Pedro. The city itself is divided into eighteen neighborhoods or barrios, each with a patron saint. This division has pre-Hispanic origins as does the division into two municipalities. The city is unified by a complicated system of shared religious responsibilities, called cargas, which function mostly to support a very busy calendar of saints' days and other festivals which occur in one part or another almost all year round. The most important of these festivals is that dedicated to the Virgin of the Remedies, the patron of the city in its entirety, which occurs at the beginning of September.
context_section_description: The pyramid was a place of pilgrimage in the pre Hispanic period, and it is a place of pilgrimage today, to visit an image known as the Virgin of the Remedies, especially in September. The Virgin of the Remedies is a variation of the Virgin Mary specifically dedicated to the needs of the poor. Veneration of this Virgin in Mexico dates back to the Conquest, with various stories surrounding how this particular manifestation became associated with the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Most revolve around a conquistador by the name of Juan Rodríguez de Villafuerte. One story states that he brought this image with him before leaving for the New World by a soldier who had fought in Italy. Another states that she was carried by Villafuerte, but lost during the Noche Triste only to be found later by a local indigenous man. Yet another states that an image of this Virgin appeared on the sleeve of Franciscan friar Martín de Valencia, while praying on the pyramid mound of Cholula. The Virgin of the Remedies is strongly associated with the Conquest as the protector of the conquistadors. She was made a "general" of the Spanish army in their battles against the indigenous of New Spain. During the Mexican War of Independence, she was invoked by royalist forces, while the insurgents carried the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe.  For this reason, this image is also called the Virgen Gachupina, as "gachupina" is a derogatory word for the Spanish used in Mexico. The Virgin of the Remedies was one of four Virgin Mary images which were used to substitute for pre Hispanic female deities in the cardinal directions from Mexico City. This one was placed in the east, with the Virgin of Guadalupe to the north, the Virgin of Mercy to the south and the "Virgen de la Bala" to the south. There is a story that a serpent lives beneath the pyramid. It is likely related to the myth of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, which was converted to the snake, related to the devil and crushed under the foot of the Virgin Mary.
  There are a number of stories of how the particular physical image of the Virgin of the Remedies came to the sanctuary, but she was most likely brought by Franciscan missionaries from Spain for their friary. The image measures 27 centimetres (11 in) tall, similar to those brought by Hernán Cortés and leading to speculation what it was brought by him. Images like this brought by him include the Virgin Conquistador in the San Francisco friary in Puebla, the Virgin of the Defense at the Altar of the Kings in the Puebla cathedral, the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos, the Virgin of Zapopan and the Virgin of Juquila. There is a story that states that the image was lost from the friary and a bright image of her appeared over the pyramid. The light attracted the Franciscans, who climbed the structure to find the physical image there. This prompted the decision to build the sanctuary to here in this place. 8 September is when the apparition of the image is celebrated, but the image is honored starting the first, and the local annual fair runs from the first to the fifteenth.
  The sanctuary to this Virgin manifestation was established in 1594, with the first church built between then and 1666. The church has suffered damage on various occasions from lightning strikes and from earthquakes. Before the Spanish, the pyramid was considered to be sacred to a female rain deity called Chiconahuiquiahuita (Nine Rains). She was accredited with striking the new church with lightning and supposedly a stone image of her was found at the site the church is now. The lightning strikes have caused minor damage, but the earthquakes have been more serious. In 1864, the church was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake. It took ten years to rebuild and was re-inaugurated in 1873. In February 1930, there was a robbery at the church. The thieves stole the jewelry that the image had been wearing, including a gold crown, a silver halo and precious stones. The next major quake to damage the building came in 1999, which damaged the towers and caused the pilgrims' portal to 
caption: Main nave of the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios church
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