Exploring
Colonial Mexico©
Exploring
Colonial Mexico©
A Trip to Tapalapa Picturesquely sited on a lush green hillside in the less traveled Zoque speaking region of northern Chiapas, the church of San Agustín Tapalapa is one of the network of missions founded by the Dominicans in this tropical region in the 1500s.
Although some of these early missions have been lost or lapsed into ruin over the centuries, recent efforts to restore the surviving handful of these historic buildings have borne fruit.
A former visita of the Dominican priory of Tecpatán, Tapalapa is a substantial structure built of local stone. Its simple square facade features a grand arched doorway, a bullseye choir window with tracery, and a triangular crowning pediment with triple merlons and multiple niches, some containing sculptured figures. A tiled belfry or campanario, reminiscent of an oriental temple, stand beside the church on its north side.
Otherwise plain, the whitewashed nave is lit by tall rounded windows in the Dominican style. A trio of colorful folk retablos rests at the far end and a statue of the patron St. Augustine graces the center altarpiece. The lofty beamed wooden ceiling is a rare surviving example of this style of roof in the region. The large, formerly vaulted apse at the east end, probably the earliest part of the church, remains to be securely roofed.
In 2003 the Chiapas state government, in coordination with INAH, the Instituto Nacional de Arqueologia e Historia, restored the handsome wooden ceiling of the church, the priest's quarters and retiled the floors.
A unique 16th century survival and a rural gem.
Tapalapa facade
Tapalapa nave >
Tapalapa retablos
