Mendicant monasteries in Mexico

Over time, due to the policy of reducción (settling indigenous people into centralized communities), these monasteries evolved into social centers for the pueblos de indios.

However, they incorporated innovative elements, such as the atrial cross and the capilla abierta (open chapel), and were characterized by various decorative styles as well as a fortress-like appearance.

[1] Entrusted with the task of evangelizing the recently conquered Mesoamerican indigenous peoples, the friars designed monasteries as comprehensive ensembles of didactic and symbolic elements.

These structures featured iconographic programs and diverse components that encapsulated the beliefs and experiences the mendicants had accumulated from similar missions in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The mendicant buildings of the 16th century share a similar layout in their basic elements with European monasteries, as well as comparable decorative and structural characteristics.

These buildings featured the same war-inspired stereotomy, with thick walls, prominent buttresses, significant height emphasizing an ascensional direction, and merlons.

The construction and arrangement of the buildings were designed with the intention of returning to the ideals of the primitive Church, incorporating solutions and spaces specifically created to uphold the Regula of St. Benedict of Nursia.

The primary function of the atrium was to host various religious celebrations in addition to Mass, including processions and theatrical performances, such as edifying theater, which the indigenous people enjoyed as a didactic form of teaching.

The indigenous population readily accepted outdoor ceremonies for Mass, as conducting rituals in open spaces was a common practice in Mesoamerican culture.