Templo y exconvento de San Matías apóstol de Iztacalco, Renaissance temple in Iztacalco, Mexico

The Templo y exconvento de San Matías Apóstol has a cantera facade with plastered sections and a single-body tower on a mixtilinear plan, richly decorated and built in the 18th century. A side chapel of the same century, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, has a Greek-cross plan, an octagonal dome with a lantern, and mixtilinear windows. Inside is one nave under a barrel vault and a ribbed dome.

Franciscan missionaries founded the temple and convent in 1550, though the architect is unknown; Claudio de Arciniega may have been involved, as he lived in Iztacalco in 1563. In 1725 José Miguel de Rivera Saravia renovated the church, adding the estípites of the facade. In 1771 Archbishop Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana created the parish of San Matías Ixtacalco, and the complex was declared a historic monument in March 1933.

The temple is dedicated to Saint Matthias the Apostle, whose feast day is 14 May; the Franciscans who founded the complex in 1550 chose this patronage, and an oral tradition in Iztacalco recounts how the apostle became patron of the convent. A sculpture of Saint Matthias from the 18th century stands on the main altarpiece.

The complex stands in the Pueblo de Iztacalco, in the Alcaldía Iztacalco of Mexico City, within the historic centre of the former lake village. The church and the former convent are separate parts of the same listed monument, so allow time to see both the temple and the cloister. The building is a protected historic monument, so access to some convent rooms may be limited.

The baptismal font displays carved Franciscan symbols from the 16th century and ranks among the oldest religious artifacts in the city. These details are easy to miss without a closer look at the interior.