Convent of Saint Mathew the Apostle, Atlatlahucan, Religious complex in Atlatlahucan, Mexico.
The Convent of Saint Mathew the Apostle in Atlatlahucan has a square layout with a single-nave church covered by a barrel-vault roof. Its plain facade carries a 19th-century clock, pointed battlements and buttresses, and a three-arch open chapel (capilla abierta) on the north side, the oldest structure in the complex. Two of the original four corner chapels (capillas posas) remain.
Construction of the Augustinian convent ran from 1535 to 1567 under friars Jerónimo de San Sebastián and Jorge de Ávila; Ávila later founded houses at Tlayacapan, Ocuituco, Yecapixtla and Totolapan. In 1745 the temple passed to the secular clergy, and in 1994 it joined the UNESCO listing of the Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatépetl. The 19 September 2017 earthquake closed the church until 2023, when municipal and state restoration work allowed Masses to resume inside.
The church keeps the pre-Vatican II Tridentine rite: Mass is said in Latin with the priest facing the altar. The convent's patronal feast is held on 21 September, the day of the apostle Matthew. Inside, 16th- to 19th-century murals survive in the church, the chapels, the cloister and the monastic rooms.
The church was closed after the 19 September 2017 earthquake damaged its structure; only the main patio stayed accessible, and Mass was held there. Reopening work by the municipal government and the state INAH allowed services to resume inside the temple in 2023. Visitors should confirm current access before travelling.
The church interior holds two frescoes: one of the Last Supper and one showing the genealogical tree of the Augustinian Order. The nave is a single barrel-vaulted hall, and the 16th- to 19th-century murals in the church, chapels and cloister survive in good condition.
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