Santa Prisca Church (Taxco)

Santa Prisca is a church in the Mexican city of Taxco in the north of the state of Guerrero. It is famous for its colonial architecture and is one of the most beautiful churches in Mexico.

History and consecration

In 1751, José de la Borda, who owned several silver mines in the area of Taxco and had made them a fortune, gave the order to build the church, which he financed completely. The work started in the same year by the best architects, painters and sculptors of the country extended over a period of seven years. In 1758 the church was the Archbishop of Manila, Manuel Antonio Rojo del Rio y Vieyra Lubián, ordained on March 15, 1759 and placed under the protection of the saints Santa Prisca and San Sebastian, whose figures flanking the sides of the main altar. From this the official name of the church of Santa Prisca and San Sebastian explains ( Parroquia de Santa Prisca y San Sebastián).

Facilities and location

The church is located right on the Zocalo (Plaza Borda ), the main square in the city center. It consists of red-rose sandstone. Your outer facade was built in the Baroque style, while the interior is sumptuously decorated in the style of Churrigueresque.

The upper halves of the 48 -meter high twin towers are like the west-facing entrance feature ornate carvings. Immediately above the main entrance is a relief of the baptism of Jesus, which leads to the symbolic ascent to eternal life and means the climb into the interior of the church in a particular case.

The interior is richly decorated with gold and houses a gallery of significant figures in the history of Taxco and two paintings of the famous Mexican painter of the 18th century, Miguel Cabrera.