QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MTHSriCIPIO BRAND 



201 



Quiroga. Because of the relative importance of 

 Quiroga it has been made the headquarters of a 

 vicarla jordnea which embraces the parishes of 

 Quiroga, Tzintzuntzan, Santa Fe, San Jer6nimo 

 and San Andrfe, Teremendo, and Capula. The 

 priests of these parishes sometimes meet in 

 Quiroga, and the Quiroga priest occasionally 

 visits the constituent parishes. Quiroga and 

 these other parishes fall within the archdiocese of 

 Morelia or Michoacdn. The diocese of Alichoacdn 

 was organized 1534/36/38 with the see in Tzint- 

 zuntzan for the first few years, then in Patzcuaro 

 for about 40 years, and ever since 1580 in Valla- 

 dolid-Morelia. In 1863-64 Morelia was raised to 

 an archdiocese, wdth Quer6taro, Le6n, and Zamora 

 as suffragan dioceses, and Tacambaro was added 

 in 1913. Quiroga is directly imder the Arch- 

 bishop of Morelia. 



THE CHURCH 



Nothing now remains of the original colonial 

 parish church or of the Franciscan convent, which 

 were destroyed when Cocupao was burned in 1811 

 to prevent its use by royalist troops. The present 

 parish church (La Parroquia) which was built 

 about 1812-18 retains the simple lines and limited 

 ornamentation which characterize most Fran- 

 ciscan churches as contrasted with Augustinian 

 and Dominican. What may have been an im- 

 posing bell tower was truncated on June 19, 1858, 

 when the most severe historic earthquake in the 

 region tumbled down the upper member, which 

 never has been replaced. The church proper 

 consists of a simple boxlike nave terminating in a 

 polygonal sanctuary or apse, with the main front 

 entrance giving to the south onto the churchyard 

 or atrium (the former cemetery), and a more 

 commonly used side entrance opening on the west 

 onto the Plaza de los Martires. Attached at the 

 back is the parish house in which live the priest, 

 the sacristan, and a housekeeper; and all along 

 the east side of the church and the parish house is 

 a structure with several rooms which are used for 

 a variety of purposes connected with the religious 

 hfe of the community. The outstanding element 

 in the interior of the church is the painted wooden 

 ceiling. The old wooden altars were replaced in 

 the 1880's with conventional modern altars of 

 stone and composition. Because of the seques- 

 tration and abandonment of the other churches 

 and chapels in Quiroga, the parish church has a 



large collection of sculptured images (bultos) and 

 paintings. The bultos were of: 



San Diego de Alcald, — the patron saint, reputedly 

 made in Italy, and easily the finest image in the 

 church. 



El Senor de la Preciosa Sangre — a reportedly miracu- 

 lous image of Christ on the cross. This image is 

 said to be made of maize cane paste (cana de maiz). 



San Francisco de Asfs — a quite good image of Saint 

 Francis, possibly transferred from the chapel of the 

 defunct Barrio de San Francisco. 



San Jos6. 



San Antonio de Padua. 



San Vicente de Paul — transferred from the chapel of 

 San Vicente. 



San Pascual Bail6n. 



Cristo Rey. 



El Santo Entierro. 



Jestis Nazareno. 



Sagrado Coraz6n. 



San Miguel Arcdngel — transferred from the chapel of 

 San Miguel. 



Santa Teresita del Nino Jesus. 



La Purtsima Concepci6n. 



Santa Ana. 



Maria Santfsima. 



Nuestra Senora (the Virgin Mary) in the forms known 



as Carmen, Soledad, Dolores, Trdnsito, and Pere- 



grinos. 



Among the more notable paintings were a fair painting 



of San Pablo (attributed by Le6n to Cabrera), La Con- 



cepci6n, Nuestra Seiiora de Guadalupe, and 14 pictures 



representing the stations of the Via Crucis. 



BELLS 



The bells are reached by several flights of stairs 

 up to a large chamber with a side door to the 

 organ loft, then up a closely spiraled stairway or 

 caracol, and finally up a short wooden ladder to 

 the bell platform. There are seven bells of 

 different sizes and ages. The largest bell (campana 

 mayor) and three others were cast in Acambaro 

 in 1940 and 1941; two of intermediate size and 

 uncertain origin date from 1901 to 1907; and the 

 smallest bell carries the date of 1771. Bells no 

 longer play the role in Quiroga and in most of the 

 remainder of Mexico that they did for the major 

 part of the past four centuries. Because of the 

 lack of watches and clocks every parish church 

 was supposed to have at least one bell large 

 enough and in a tower high enough so that it 

 could be heard throughout the parish — calling the 

 congregation to church on Sundays and other 

 feast days, indicating the hours of prayer, and 

 serving as a swift messenger of tidings on such 

 occasions as fire, bandit raid, or a call for public 



