Exploring Colonial
Mexico©
Exploring Colonial
Mexico©
Jewels of Jalisco
North central Jalisco (see map) is notable for its numerous large haciendas, many of which date back to colonial times. Originally dedicated to cattle ranching and agriculture, some of these estates were expanded in the 1800s for the production of sugar or tequila, the alcoholic spirit uniquely associated with this region. Many of these formerly vast estates are now in ruins or abandoned, their lands broken up and redistributed.
One of the largest of these is the venerable hacienda of El Cabezón, located off Route 70 towards the town of Ameca, about 50 kms west of Guadalajara. In 1765, El Cabezón, so named for Don Pedro de Cabezón, who acquired the property as early as 1572, was bought by Don Calixto de Cañedo, whose family then occupied the hacienda for more than 150 years, adding sugar and alcohol to its many other products. After acquiring the estate, the Cañedo family commissioned the design and construction of a new chapel, primarily to house an image of the Virgin of Purification, also known as La Candelaria, the patron saint of the family.
The Miracle of the Pearls
The story goes that in 1866, during the turmoil of the French occupation of Mexico, Don José Ignacio Eustaquio Cañedo y Valdivieso, the aristocratic hacendado of El Cabezón, who was known for his benevolence and his concern for the less fortunate, distributed all of his dwindling stock of corn and beans to the suffering residents of his estate and the surrounding wartorn communities.
One day an elderly woman of noble aspect came to the hacienda seeking corn. Although his warehouses were by then empty, nevertheless, Don José took pity on the unknown stranger and encouraged her to forage for any remaining grain that might still lie in the various cracks and corners.
Next morning, his majordomo came to him complaining that the doors of the granary were bulging, and so that he and his workers were unable to push them open. After much effort the men finally forced apart the doors a crack, from which began to spill the abundant corn that now filled the bin. In addition, the smooth round kernels were of an unusual pearl-like luster and transparency.
This apparent miracle was seemingly confirmed when, on entering the hacienda chapel to offer thanks, Don José was amazed to see a new string of real pearls of similar appearance to the corn kernels now hanging around the neck of the statue of the Virgin of La Candelaria.
Naturally, all were convinced that the old woman of the previous day was in fact the Virgin herself, come to test and then reward the hacendado's generosity and compassion. Thereafter, the image of La Candelaria became the object of pilgrimage from all the nearby villages - a tradition that continues to this day.
This modest building, all that remains of the colonial hacienda,
is reported to have been built to a design by Francisco Eduardo
Tresguerras, the eminent architect, painter, writer, and champion
of the neoclassical revival in Mexico. (The present facade appears
to be a later addition)
Aside from the chapel, most of the other hacienda structures are in ruins or gone, although Tony Burton reports that the old fountain is now located in the town of Jiquilpan, near Lake Chapala.
The Cañedo family were prominent landowners in this area of Jalisco. In addition to the Hacienda El Cabezón, they also owned the nearby Hacienda Buenavista de Cañedo, whose former chapel, now the parish church, is an elegant neoclassical building whose design has also been attributed to Tresguerras.
Aside from its importance as a possible architectural work by Tresguerras, the El Cabezón chapel is chiefly notable for the rich interior and especially its superb 18th century Churrigueresque altarpiece - one of the few to survive in Jalisco and the only example in this ornate, late baroque style to be found outside Guadalajara.
The gilded retablo houses the lavishly dressed and ornamented figure of La Candelaria in the center, surmounted by an elaborate crown and encircling silver halo. She is also accompanied by a tower, a heraldic emblem of the Cañedo family. The wooden figure of the Virgin is thought to predate the chapel itself and is the venerated object of pilgrimage from other communities in the area.
Her image is traditionally ringed by elegant baroque figures of the seven archangels, beautifully sculpted, painted and finished in fine estofado. These figures are thought to be by the same hand, or hands that crafted the celebrated side retablos in the Aranzazú chapel in Guadalajara.
* The altarpiece has recently been repaired and re-gilded. The statues of the archangels are also under restoration at this writing (Winter 2006) and should soon be returned to their rightful place in the retablo.
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