Santo Domingo Basilica: Oaxaca’s Baroque Marvel

A quick look at the exterior of the church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán simply does not prepare you for the incredible ornate interior, with nearly every square inch decorated with reliefs, paintings, statues and more.

But its calm and opulent Baroque interior is also a fooler—it’s hiding a turbulent history that includes nearly a century in which it was closed to religion and home to competing armies. Only in 1902 was it returned to religious use.

The church itself is part of a large complex that included a monastery and university run by the Dominicans, now the home of the Museum of Oaxaca’s Cultures and land that is now the Ethnobotanical Garden.

The Dominican order—Santo Domingo de Guzmán was its founder—was granted hilltop land for a church and convent, with a requirement to build it within 20 years. When that deadline was missed, they were given another 30 years, in return for promising to help fund construction of a water supply for the town. The buildings were finally ready around 1607, and the decoration of the church was finished in 1666. A Rosary Chapel was added around 1724.

Less than a century after that, starting in 1812, the complex was occupied by Spanish armies and Mexican independence armies as battles ebbed and flowed. After Mexican independence in 1821, the army stayed, although control sometimes swapped between various forces trying for control of the government. The remaining Dominicans were forced out in 1859. During those years, the buildings, including the church itself, were used as barracks, stables and warehouses.

In 1902, under the rule of Porfirio Diaz, the church was returned to religious use, but not ownership. Under various Mexican laws over the years the church was forbidden to own property (1917 Constitution) and then allowed to (1992), but all church buildings from before 1992 still belong to the Mexican state.

So, after nearly a century of military occupation, a lot of work was needed to produce what we see today; the aim was to restore the church to its 17th century condition. Basically everything we see in the church now is either restored and repaired, or replaced in the last century, working from old prints, notes, drawings and surviving examples from other churches.

No argument—the work is an impressive success. If it seems over-the-top by our standards, that’s proof of its success, because that’s how Baroque looks to most of us these days!