The Church and Ex-convent of Santo Domingo

The genealogical tree of Santo Domingo de Guzmán (founder of the Order) is outstanding. It is done in gilded and polychrome plasterwork upon the ceiling of the sotacoro (the area under a raised choir). The arched vault of the main nave is also spectacular and has thirty-six paintings depicting passages from both the Old and the New Testament.

Oaxacan artists rebuilt the splendid, gilt baroque retable in 1959. The eighteenth-century Capilla del Rosario (annexed to the church) is an architectural jewel dedicated to the Virgin of the same name. Within it there are paintings of the Virgin and of Christ. The joyful, painful, and glorious “mysteries” of the rosary are depicted upon the walls of the church, and upon the ceiling of the choir.

Today the ex-convent houses an excellent museum run by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). It has often hosts folk art exhibits and has an ethno-botanical garden that has tours in both Spanish and English.

The Church and Ex-convent of Santo Domingo

Location map