Drive just 15-minutes outside of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and you come to a remarkable Jesuit sanctuary.
It’s the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, dubbed the “Sistine Chapel of Mexico.”
The site is so extraordinary that visiting it is one of the best things to do in Mexico, especially if you love history, architecture and culture.
The Sanctuary of Atotonilco
Dedicated to Jesus, the large church, with several attached chapels, was built in the 18th century.
On the outside, the white church complex is quite plain.
But inside the church?
Talk about an explosion of color and art!
The walls and ceilings are almost completely decorated with oil paintings, poems, sculptures and frescoes in riotous colors (vivid blues, reds, green and black).
You see mythical creatures, flowers, gilded baroque virgins, horned devils, red-robed priests and scenes depicting the life of Christ.
Local Indian artists Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre and Rodriguez Juárez painted the murals over a period of 30 years in Mexican Baroque style. (The artists painted Spanish conquerors instead of Roman soldiers.)
A UNESCO World Heritage Site
We visited the sanctuary with Italian architect Roberto Burillo Eguia Lis.
In 1996, at the instigation of Roberto and his partner, the World Monuments Fund added the sanctuary to its list of “100 Most Endangered Monuments.”
With seed money from American Express and more than $100,000 US from the state of Guanajuato (home to Guanajuato’s unique mummy museum), the building’s facade and murals were inspected, analyzed and cleaned – and restoration work was started.
In July, 2008, as a result of the efforts of Roberto and his partner, the Sanctuary of Atotonilco was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Images are still being authentically restored under Roberto’s guidance, retaining their centuries-old character.
“We’re restoring in a way that doesn’t kill the ghosts,” Roberto explained as he showed us around.
We also heard pilgrims singing hymns and saw Mexican nuns washing the altars.
After, we wandered around the little souvenir stands outside selling corn whips.
“Pilgrims still come from central Mexico and self-flagellate with corn whips,” said Roberto.
“The town here is totally authentic and nothing has changed in 300 years.”
Apart from its fantastic mural work, the Sanctuary of Atotonilco is also noteworthy from an historical perspective.
It was from this church that heroic Father Miguel Hidalgo galloped off to San Miguel de Allende in 1810, starting the revolt that ultimately led to Mexico’s independence from Spain.
Where is the Sistine Chapel of Mexico located?
The Sanctuary of Atotonilco (Sistine Chapel of Mexico) is located in the small rural community of Atotonilco, some 8.5 miles (14 km) outside the colonial city of San Miguel de Allende.
See this link to Google maps for the location of the Sanctuary of Atotonilco.
How to visit the Sistine Chapel of Mexico?
You can visit the sanctuary on your own or ask for a guided tour from the San Miguel de Allende tourism office.
Experience more of Mexico!
Read our posts on:
Mexican colonial cities | Discover the most beautiful colonial cities in Mexico!
Mexican fruit | Have you heard of the chocolate pudding fruit? No? Well, discover 17 delicious and exotic types of fruit in Mexico you should try.
Cabo San Lucas | From whale watching to golf, check out the 25 best things to do in Cabo.
Photo credits: 2 to 7, 9 © Janice and George Mucalov, SandInMySuitcase
About the authors
Luxury travel journalists and SATW, NATJA and TMAC “Best Travel Blog” award winners, Janice and George Mucalov are the publishers of Sand In My Suitcase. Between them, they’ve traveled to all 7 continents. See About.
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Linda Bibb
Monday 3rd of November 2014
Oh, my goodness, what a beautiful church! It's no surprise that it's on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Actually, we try to make it a point to visit any UNESCO sites that are nearby because they are always interesting ... and make for wonderful photos!
Jenn Smith Nelson
Monday 3rd of November 2014
Wow, so much more ornate than I would have expected! Beautiful.
Emily
Saturday 1st of November 2014
Wow - that church looks nothing like the churches I remember visiting in Mexico! How beautiful - I will need to make my way there sometime.
Janice and George
Saturday 1st of November 2014
San Miguel de Allende is a fairytale town (we'll be writing a post about it soon, so stay tuned for that...). And the Sanctuary of Atotonilco is one of its top attractions. We hope you find your way there at some point in future :-).
Irene S. Levine, PhD
Wednesday 29th of October 2014
We stopped there briefly. Your photos are incredible!
Shikha
Monday 27th of October 2014
Those frescoes and sculptures are just absolutely stunning! Isn't it fabulous when a place looks quite plain from the outside and then just takes you completely by surprise inside - I found the same thing in a couple of churches in Bavaria, Germany last winter that were just plain white and simple outside and absolutely gorgeous frescoes inside :)
Janice and George
Monday 27th of October 2014
Yes, it was a real surprise driving up to the church. This is Mexico's "Sistine Chapel"? We also thought there would be more visitors there, but there only perhaps a couple of other tourists that wandered through during our visit.