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The Square
of Santo Domingo is considered Mexico´s City second largest square, after the
Zocalo, due to its location and because it is bounded by historic buildings
that during the Viceroyalty fulfilled important economic, religious,
political and commercial roles. The Temple of Santo Domingo and the Temple of
la Enseñanza, the Chapel of Atonement, the Palace of the Inquisition and the
Customs old building are some of the New Spain's significant buildings that
make up this urban space of the Historical Downtown.
In
the book La Plaza de Santo Domingo. Sixteenth century, Pedro Alvarez y
Gasca explains that, initially, this place was located in the quarter of Santa
Maria and built over the ancient Mexica Calpulli Cuepopan; according to other
sources, before the fall of Tenochtitlan, Cuauhtemoc´s Palace occupied part of
it. When the Dominicans arrived in 1526 the space was free, so it was assigned
to operate as a convent. In 1571 the Royal Court of the Inquisition was
settled in the northeast corner of the Square, and early on the
XVII century, there were a large cross and a fountain, which supplied
water to the neighborhood. In 1676 the Customs building was settled on the
eastern side, it managed the taxes and reviewed the objects entering from Europe
to New Spain via the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The
Temple of Santo Domingo, a building that dates from the XVII century, which
replaced the original after a fire, still retains the XVII century
altarpieces of Mexican artist Manuel Tolsá. Besides all these
constructions there was, in the center of the Square, a fountain with the motif
of the eagle and the cactus, it was replaced in 1890 with the fountain of the
Corregidora Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. (LugarCero)
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