Neo-gothic cathedrals and spaciality of the power of church in cities of west Mexico: a view from the geography of religion

Abstract

The construction of churches, temples and cathedrals in the neo-Gothic style in Latin America was a constant during the final quarter of the 19th century and the first three decades of the 20th century. The construction of these temples, beyond their architecture, became part of a solution serving the political and social needs of the Church. Through this idea we can understand these buildings as being symbols of the balance, sometimes conflicting, sometimes fully collaborative, between the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the national governments which arose at that historical moment. In addition, those buildings are a reflection of the Catholic revival which occurred in the Western hemisphere starting in the last third of the 19th century, as they express attempts at the positioning, both social and territorial, of a Catholic hierarchy that was attempting to emerge after years of wars, conflicts, transfers of property and expulsions. In this paper, I formalize the early stages of research on the extent and forms of neo-Gothic religious architecture in Latin America, focusing in some Western México examples. This is an analysis which seeks to understand how the Catholic Church has taken this style and used it, directly or indirectly, as an additional element in a complex policy of integrating itself into societies of the then-new (19th century) Latin American countries.