Capilla de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Puente de San Francisco, Catholic chapel near San Francisco Bridge in Puebla City, Mexico.
Capilla de Nuestra Senora de los Dolores del Puente de San Francisco is a church near the San Francisco Bridge with a simple single-nave layout featuring Ionic columns, brick doming, and classical pilaster work framing the entrance. Inside, a Neoclassical altarpiece displays a cypress tree and images of Christ's Passion.
The chapel began as a hermitage built by María Laris de la Vega on part of her house, with permission from Bishop Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz granted in 1699, to house a Spanish statue of the Virgin of Sorrows. After her death she left money for a chapel, and with alms and donations the vault was finished in 1704. In the 18th century a Baroque altarpiece was added; in the 19th it was removed for a Neoclassical cypress and paintings of the Passion.
The chapel's name honours the Virgin of Sorrows, whose Spanish-origin statue was brought by Gregorio de Urosa and María Laris de la Vega. On the Friday before Holy Week, the Viernes de Dolores, an altar is set up in her honour and prayers are offered, a devotion still strong in Puebla during Holy Week.
The chapel sits at the intersection of Boulevard Heroes del 5 de Mayo and 14 Oriente, welcoming visitors during its regular service hours. Since it remains an active place of worship, plan your visit to avoid times when masses are being held so you can move around freely.
The chapel is also called Capilla del Puente because it stands where the first bridge in Puebla, the San Francisco Bridge, crossed the Almoloya River. That bridge led to the convent atrium but was destroyed by a strong current in 1743. The image of the Virgin of Sorrows venerated here came from Spain with the alférez Gregorio de Urosa and his wife María Laris de la Vega.
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