Magic Town and Architecture Century XVII
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An extraordinary wooden screen, carved, lathed and inlaid with bone and various woods, a technique known as marquetry, is located at the entrance to the vestibule of the Domestic Chapel. The latter was built in 1604 and remodeled in the XVIII century, and was destined exclusively for the use of the school’s residents, particularly novices, hence its name. The Chapel had a luminous and festive environment that would motivate the vocation of novices and the various young disciples of the school towards the ideals of the Jesuit community.

The Chapel’s lateral walls are decorated with various gilded and painted sculptures of saints, angels and virgins. Facing the altar and to the left, a sculpture of the Virgin of Dolores and two altarpieces stand out. One of these altarpieces dates to the XVII century and is dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, while the other can be dated to the XVIII century and has niches for images and relics. To the right stands an image of San José,

the patron saint of New Spain.

There is a remarkable baroque altarpiece in the presbytery; it is of the estipite type, already in use during the XVIII century. A lateral niche in the presbytery holds a carved wooden image of a praying man representing Mr. Pedro Ruíz de Ahumada, a benefactor of the Jesuits at Tepotzotlán, who, in 1604, donated 34 thousand pesos

Tepotzotlán