St. Bonaventure Cathedral, Cuautitlán, Colonial cathedral in Cuautitlán, Mexico.
St. Bonaventure Cathedral in Cuautitlán is a church built in the New Spanish Baroque style, with a floor plan in the shape of a Latin cross. The central nave is tall and flanked by columns that support the vaults and draw the eye upward.
Franciscan friars reached Cuautitlán on 14 July 1524 and made it their residence; planned construction of the first monastery and church began in 1532 under Friar Alonso de Herrera. The present church was started in 1655 under Friar Manuel Cabrera and finished in 1732, as an inscription at the top of the apse records. It replaced the first temple, demolished on the same axis, and became a cathedral on 5 February 1979 with the founding of the Diocese of Cuautitlán.
The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Bonaventure, a 13th-century Franciscan theologian, and this connection is still visible in the iconography inside. Every year, the town celebrates his feast day with local festivities that bring the community together around the building.
The cathedral sits in the center of Cuautitlán and is open to visitors on most days of the week. As an active place of worship, modest clothing and quiet behavior are expected inside.
The 16-metre cedar Retablo Marco fills the apse; begun in 1988 and blessed on 25 April 1997, it was designed by architect Manuel González Galván to display four paintings. In 1901 the church's Churrigueresque side altars were cut up and moved to San Martín Tepetlixpan, Santiago Tepalcapa and San Francisco Magú.
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