Ex-Conventos II: Yanhuitlán

About half an hour away* from Teposcolula over the mountais is the ex-convento of Yanhuitlán. Formally known as Sto Domingo de Guzman Yanhuitlán, it just gets called Yanhuitlán, especially by those of us from Oaxaca de Juárez where we have our own Sto Domingo (de Guzman). This ex-convento has had even more extensive restoration than that of the ex-convento at Teposcolula and the museum is much more extensive, including copies of some beautiful codices of the Ñuu Dzahui (ancient Mixteca culture). The land immediately around the church and ex-convento is also more landscaped with native plants-- yay!!! for me!!!

(*depending on how fast your driver goes on the mountainous, very windey, narrow, somewhat rutted and sometimes just plain old washed out road). We've gone relatively slowly with a driver who is clearly told not to scare the Americans or wreck his very nice car fully equipped with all the safety features to a one-eyed taxi driver and the driver of a collectivo van who both drove like the demons of hell were after them. Seat belts?! Who needs seat belts?? Good fun! Seat belts?! Who needs seat belts...)

The church of Yanhuitlán is, as I have mentioned elsewhere, one of the tallest if not the tallest churches in Mexico. Because Yanhuitlán is situated in a valley/plain Yanhuitlán is visible from quite far away. The town itself is relatively small and the main plaza/centro is located lower than the church & ex-convento so there really is nothing to block one's view of the church for miles and miles.

the church with Thalia for scale

looking up the belltower (this is from a terraza in the ex-convento so not from ground level, even)

In my opinion, the interior of Yanhuitlán is quite a bit prettier than Teposcolula's so I've got more fotos of it. The vaulted roof is so high it's actually quite difficult to capture on "film" but I gave it a try...

the interior altar, the retablo was designed/made by some famous Spanish retablo artist

Another view, looking towards the entrance of the church

and looking waaaay UP! at the vaulting of the roof

maybe my favorite bit of the interior of the church

beautifully painted/restored; lots of Mixteca symbols

On to the Ex-Convento now...here's the lower level cloisters. I always think it's amusing-- that aspect of ex-conventos that includes niches empty of their (presumably) santos...

view of the cloisters from across the courtyard. I think the upper level has been entirely reconstructed...or at least quite extensively. I think it's still quite stunning, although this is not a universal opinion.

Upper level of cloisters. Such beautiful light and shadows!!!

I loooooved the design in the courtyard, created from stones. As far as I can tell, it is the crest of the Dominicans.

A rather unexpected place arches were used here: the latrines. There were SIXTEEN toilets, four on each side of a giant middle block in a cavernous, well-ventilated chamber. Did all the friars have to go to the bathroom at the same time?! Here, Eric demonstrates sitting on the can. All rather hilarious. Thalia was quite horrified: "everyone would have been able to SEE you if you were on the toilet!"

One of my favorite things about Ex-Convento Yanhuitlán is all the windows that have beautiful views (this plus next two fotos are some examples)

who needs santos is what I say...

door/window to a terraza

lots and lots of cactus and agaves (many/most with quiote, what the flowering stalk is called in Mexico)

Thalia points out the cute cactus bud

couldn't resist the late afternoon light on these cactuses!!!

Scene of the garden, looking out towards the cerros (hills)-- note very red soil on this side of the valley

okay, this will be on my fotos la sirena insta, and also: botany nerd alert! But these are bulbils or bulbillos on the quiote of an agave. I'd heard of these and thought that they were seeds that sometimes germinate in the fruit. But in fact, the are vegetative reproductive shoots that grow out of the axils of the pedicels on the quiotes of some spp of aave e. It turns out that seed viability in some agave spp is quite low and seedling survival rates are terrible and so reproduction by bulbillos is more sucessful that via seed. AND there's some evidence that Nahua traders moved bulbillos as far north as area now known as Arizona. According to gardeners, bulbillos are far easier to propogate than using seeds. Agave life histories are super amazing and cool and plants are the best.