Church of Santa Prisca de Taxco

Description

The parish is located in a small hollow with respect to the rest of the city of Taxco artificially leveled. It has a Latin cross plan, with a side nave that serves as a chapel for the altar of the Souls and a tribune on a street with Gothic ribbed vaults with tiercerons with a decorated main key that camouflages access to the Sagrario (sanctuary). It has two twin towers in the Churrigueresque style and a chapel decorated with Talavera azulejos, characteristic of New Spanish architecture.

The main facade is oriented to the west as was the custom, and in it classicist pilasters are combined with Solomonic columns used in the 17th century, which combined with posters, scrolls, ribbons, foliage, niches with saints, shields, diamond points, etc. arrive at an abundance of elements.

In this way, it is seen how the work has a great verticalist and dominant sense. The high Churrigueresque-style towers were very well crafted in their upper part to leave intact the plinth that acts as a visual buttress to frame the portal of the altarpiece. This is how the front has a language of architectural composition, typical of the time, with cylindrical columns in the lower part and twisted columns in the upper part.

Santa Prisca has nine floor-to-ceiling altarpieces, worked in wood and covered with gold leaf. The style of the altarpieces forms a unit with the architectural ensemble, that is, it is a sample of mid-18th century New Spanish Baroque. The main altarpiece is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and the patron saints of the city of Taxco de Alarcón: Saint Prisca and Saint Sebastian. It looks like a cascade of superimposed carvings where the tectonic and compositional structure is lost, leaving the whole that wants to be shown as a whole instead of being divided into parts. In the chapels of the transept of the temple there are two other important altarpieces, one dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe and the other to the Virgin of the Rosary.

The central themes of the construction are: the patron saint Saint Prisca, Saint Sebastian, the evangelists, the shells (which symbolize the baptism of Jesus), the laurel leaves (which symbolize the triumph of faith) and the grapes, which represent the blood of Christ. Inside there are paintings by Miguel Cabrera, called "the divine", an Oaxacan painter born in the 17th century, to whom José de la Borda commissioned the paintings that decorate the building. In this church Miguel Cabrera painted Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, Martyrdom of St. Prisca, and also a great Assumption which still hangs in the sacristy.

The oldest document of the parish archive dates from 1598.

Legend of Santa Prisca

There is a legend associated with the Santa Prisca Church. While it was in construction, José de la Borda left Taxco on business to Guanajuato, leaving construction work to the builders. Soon after Borda left, the sky filled with black clouds and cold winds struck the streets, whistling through the towers of the unfinished church. The dark and cold terrified the workmen as the large storm approached. Suddenly a large bolt of lightning struck showing an undefined black silhouette that was swooping down on the church. Then it struck the cupola of the church, lighting it brilliantly. All of the tile covering the cupola began to shine with strange lights, allowing the inscription “Gloria a Dios en las alturas y paz en la tierra a los hombres de buena voluntad” (Glory to God in the Highest and peace on earth for men with good will) to be seen clearly. The whole town got down on their knees to pray, fearing that angry demons would destroy the church. Floating around the church were flashes of light and above the church appeared a beautiful woman who, smiling and with a peaceful face, caught the following lightning bolts in her hands.