Arrival to La Ciudad de México
In April of 2024, we were blessed to travel to Mexico City when John surprised Laura with this trip as an early birthday gift. ¡Muchas gracias!
On a Friday, we drove to Miami to fly into CDMX airport. You can check out our post on practical tips for a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe here. Mexican hospitality was readily evident – upon arrival at the Hotel Centrales, the front desk staff offered dos cervezas. A pleasant surprise. ¡Benvenidos!
Refreshed, we visited the Catedral Metropolitana with the Our Lady Undoer of Knots image and St. Rita statue, we prayed at the Divine Mercy Chapel and also at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
Caracol de Mar was the setting for a delectable dinner – awesome appetizers and John had black rice with squid and octopus and Laura had fish tacos. We later walked around the historic shopping center by the hotel and stopped at St. Philip Neri Church.
The next day we would go to Tepeyac Hill, the site of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the faith-filled peasant Juan Diego. It is the most visited Catholic site in the world and the third most visited sacred site (after India’s Golden Temple and River Ganges).
(Appetizer!)
(Another appetizer!)
What Happened at Tepeyac Hill? The Apparitions of the Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego
If you will indulge us, here is a factual account of the apparitions that we have re-imagined as if Juan Diego, the first indigenous saint of the Americas, himself was speaking to us directly:
(St. Juan Diego, Source: Creative Commons)
You asked about what happened to me with the Lady. To begin, I am a Catholic farmer. A simple Nahuatl Indian from Cuautlitlán in Mexico. And I am a widower; may she rest in peace. I was born a Chichimeca Indian, part of the Aztec empire, in 1474. My parents named me Cuauhtlatoatzin which means “talking eagle.” We lived near Tenochtitlán, to the south of the city called Mexico.
Later, for many years, I lived with my wife more to the north, where together we worked on our little farm. We lived off the land in every way. For example, she made me a cloak called a “tilma” of the fiber from the cactus plant.
Though we had a good life by ourselves, terrible things were happening. We Aztecs, mighty as we were, sacrificed people, even children, to satisfy the need of our “gods” for blood! The hearts of men who were alive were cut out! We asked to ourselves — how could this be right? In my 50th year my wife and I joined to the Catholic faith and were baptized by a Spanish missionary priest, Friar Peter da Gand. She took the name Maria Lucia, and I, Juan Diego. After my beloved’s death in 1529, I lived for God and walked 15 miles to Mass each day. I would cross the rugged hill of Tepeyac, a sacred place associated with the Aztec mother goddess Tonantzin, where nothing grows.
Well, on that first day of the vision, it was December the 9th of 1531. I was walking to Mass as always, and a radiant lady was there before me on that rough hill calling herself the Mother of the True God! Her voice was gentle, her presence like a song of light, and she spoke in my tongue. She asked me (the poor man Juan Diego!) to go tell Bishop Zumárraga to build a church there in her honor. When I gave her message to the bishop, he doubted my words and requested a sign.
Then, on December the 10th, she appeared again to me on the hill, her face so kind, urging me to do what she asked despite the bishop’s reaction, promising to give me a sign on the next day. But that day — the 11th — my heart was heavy with worry for my dying uncle, Juan Bernardino, so I took another path hoping she would not see me. I was thinking only to find him a priest to hear his last Confession. The Lady met me still, saying, “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” And would you believe — she healed my uncle! Later she appeared to HIM saying her name should be Guadalupe. Next, she sent me to the hilltop of Tepeyac – remember it was December — to gather roses for the bishop. To my surprise they were blooming; a strange flower, not known to me.
(Castilian or Damask rose. Source: Creative Commons)
On December the 12th, she appeared once more, arranging those roses in my tilma. As I opened my cloak before the bishop to show the fantastic flowers, there was the Lady’s sacred image on it! This is the miracle that made the bishop believe the message and to build the shrine. You see, it was the beautiful supernatural tilma — of course — but also those roses were native to Bishop Zumárraga’s own city of Castile in Spain! How these miracles filled my heart!
I know that God uses the most unimportant people for His holy purposes. He used me! Our Lady of Guadalupe came to show my people the way of Christ, of faith, hope, and consolation. No more worship of false gods and sacrifice of people. Millions of souls were converted, and I, Juan Diego, was blessed to be there on the hill of Tepeyac at the beginning.
Juan Diego was canonized a saint by the Catholic church in 2002.
Juan Diego’s Amazing Symbol-filled Tilma!
The imprinted tilma of St. Juan Diego was a divine catalyst for the conversion of millions of native Aztecs, speaking directly to their culture through its star formations, language, symbols, signs, and musical composition. The 46 stars on the Virgin Mary’s turquoise mantle, mirroring the constellations over Mexico on December 12, 1531, at 10:40 AM – the time of the miracle! — resonated with the Aztecs’ astronomical expertise, signaling divine authorship. Mary’s Nahuatl language messages, like “Am I not here, who am your Mother?” offered maternal comfort in their native tongue, contrasting with their fear-based religion. Symbols such as Mary eclipsing the sun and standing on the moon subverted Aztec deities Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl, while her “mixed” features and pregnancy ribbon affirmed her as the “Mother of the True God,” relatable to a people weary of human sacrifice. The stars and nine flowers on her tunic encode a harmonious melody the “heavenly music” Juan Diego heard, which integrated Aztec musical traditions into Catholic worship, fostering devotion through familiar cultural forms.
The tilma’s miraculous preservation further captivated the natives, reinforcing its supernatural origin. Crafted from fragile maguey cactus fiber, which typically decays within 20–60 years, it remains intact nearly 500 years later despite initial exposure to humidity, smoke, and touch, surviving a 1785 acid spill and a 1921 bomb attack. This durability, coupled with its vivid colors and constant human temperature of 98.6°F (!), amazed the Aztecs, who saw it as a sacred codex. Its pictographic language, with glyphs like hills and rivers, made Christianity accessible to a people without a written alphabet, leading to the astounding number of conversions. The Tepeyac tilma, representing the Virgin Mary as a nurturing mestizo mother, in contrast to Tonantzin, a mother-goddess figure requiring many sacrifices, validated native dignity and uplifted an entire people. Its pictographic language and encoded song transformed indigenous spirituality, creating a vibrant, unified faith that has endured to the this day.
The Plaza Mariana and Tepeyac Hill Shrine Complex
And so, on Saturday, after a lovely hotel breakfast of huevos rancheros for John and chilaquiles for Laura, we were ready for the big visit to Tepeyac Hill.
We Uber-ed to the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe complex located within the Parque National El Tepeyac. While a remote area of the Santa Isabel and Guerrera hills at the time of the Virgin Mary’s apparition, it is now a green oasis in northern Mexico City. There are many places to visit at this site, all in the open off of the grand Plaza Mariana and of course up the famous Tepeyac Hill. The 20 million pilgrims a year who visit here can take in:
- Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey (Old Basilica): Constructed between 1695 and 1709, this baroque temple housed the Virgin of Guadalupe’s image until 1976 and now serves as a site for Eucharistic adoration.
- Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe (New Basilica): Built from 1974-1976, this massive modern circular basilica is the primary shrine for the Virgin replacing the Old Basilica.
- Capilla de Indios (Indian Chapel): Erected around 1649, this chapel was designed for indigenous worship and briefly held the Virgin’s image before its transfer to the Old Basilica.
- Capilla del Cerrito (Little Hill Chapel): First built in 1666 and then rebuilt in 1740, this chapel, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, marks the site of the Virgin’s first apparition to Juan Diego and showcases Fernando Leal’s frescoes depicting same.
- Capilla del Pocito (Little Well Chapel): Dating between 1777 and 1791, this baroque chapel with a circular design and blue and white tiled dome is near a miraculous spring on the site.
- Templo y Ex-convento de Santa Maria de Guadalupe de Capuchinas (Capuchin Nuns’ Temple and former convent): Built from 1792 to 1797, this temple and former convent temporarily housed the Virgin’s image during basilica renovations.
- Panteón del Tepeyac (Tepeyac Pantheon): Established in 1740, this historic cemetery on Tepeyac Hill is the burial site of prominent Mexicans and holds national significance.
- Jardín del Sagrado Recinto del Tepeyac (Sacred Tepeyac Garden): Since 1982 this tranquil landscaped sanctuary with its cascading waterfalls, lush greenery, and striking bronze sculpture “La Ofrenda” commemorating the apparitions has delighted visitors.
- Vela del Marino (Sail of the Sailor): This striking ex-voto monument of a tall ship’s mast and sails, a highlight along the climb up Tepeyac Hill, was erected around 1869 by a ship’s crew in gratitude to the Virgin for miraculously saving them from a deadly storm at sea.
- Cerro del Tepeyac (Tepeyac Hill): A sacred site since pre-Hispanic times, this hill is central to the Guadalupe shrine and revered as the location of the apparitions.
- Museo de San Juan Pablo II: (Museum of St. John Paul II): From the early 2000s, this museum near the basilica has honored St. John Paul II’s devotion to the Virgin with related relics and exhibits, including the “popemobile” from his 1979 visit here.
- Museo de la Basílica (Museum of the Basilica): Established in 1941, this museum in the former Capuchinas Convent displays religious art and artifacts tied to the Virgin of Guadalupe’s history.
- Carrillón Guadalupano (Belltower): Installed in 1991, the 75-foot high unusually shaped “tower” blends indigenous and Catholic heritage and features 48 bronze bells (that can play 23 melodies!), four timekeeping elements (analog clock, sundial, astrolabe, Aztec lunar calendar), and a cyclorama (circular stage) with robotic figures reenacting the apparitions.
(Map found at: turismomexico.es website)
Our pilgrimage began by venerating the miraculous tilma (several times!) in the new modern Basilica. This was followed by attending the 10 AM Mass. The amazing tilma is high above the altar (20 feet up!), framed in gold, visible from any point in the massive round structure. However, visitors can also see the tilma via a rather ingenious trio of parallel moving walkways – right behind the altar! In this way, everyone can get a glimpse as the people movers roll slowly along. You can go right back in line and see it again as we did. The basilica has a capacity of 10,000 and was crowded when we were there in April. A sinking foundation caused the classic right-out-of-a-movie 1709 “old basilica” to be replaced; though it was repaired and reopened in 2000.
(The tilma looking small behind the altar in the grand modern basilica.)
(Looking up at the tilma from a people mover.)
(Ex-votos representing body parts healed.)
(Inside wall-length depiction of Tepeyac events. Note the shell-shaped new basilica in the center foreground.)
Over our hours here we climbed 300 stair steps to the top of Tepeyac Hill. Along the way there is a beautiful depiction of the apparitions to St. Juan Diego as well as to the natives after their conversion from polytheism to the Catholic faith. Lush gardens abound amidst melodic waterfalls. Joyful pilgrims and happy families add to the ambience.
Further up the hill is the striking Vela del Marino ex-voto monument described earlier.
At the top, we were rewarded by the church there and also the vista. There were vendors dotting the way selling sweets, shrine mementos, and curiously, photo ops atop a prop burro. We bought a small, framed depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
When we came back down, we visited the remaining churches and chapels and viewed other artwork, including a statue of St. Junípero Serra. We also took in the museum of St. John Paul II, but briefly as the exhibits are explained in Spanish only (and ours is rather basic). A moment on a bench here was a pleasant respite from the Mexican sunshine.
Our late lunch was at the restaurant Antojito Rosy in a nearby mercado where John got tacos dorados and Laura had huarache sencillo. After, we visited the excellent museum of the Basilica which has a 4,000-item collection of religious art, including paintings, sculptures, gold and silver artifacts, and 2,000 ex-votos dedicated to the Virgin, and of course we wanted to see the tilma one last time.
We tried to Uber back but because of a concert that night, traffic was blocked. There was ample opportunity to study the colorful culture as we were stuck next to the block-long open-air mercato and to observe everyone from pensioners to families trying to navigate on foot, bike, motorcycle, bus, and car. It took over an hour to get across town (twice the time it would take normally), and we still ended up bailing in the light rain because for us to walk 20 minutes to our hotel was faster than driving there! Our driver seemed grateful when we said we would get out early, as it was clearly frustrating for him, and he kept apologizing for the delay.
Back at the hotel we reflected on our time at this amazing place. As built up as the area is now (and brimming with present-day pilgrims), with the dramatic depictions of the apparition on the hill where it happened and the actual tilma itself, it was easy to imagine St. Juan Diego receiving these miracles five centuries ago. We could see how they moved hearts and converted ten million natives in ten years. Our pilgrim hearts were full and grateful.
History in the Centro Histórico
The lovely Historico Central hotel where we stayed was in the heart of the sometimes loud and slightly sketchy historic district. It was safe enough, but we might stay elsewhere another time. They offered a complimentary “3-hour tour,” and we could not refuse. It took us to many locations including the Gran Hotel Ciudad de México (with its celebrated chandelier and Tiffany ceiling), Zócalo Plaza, the Tenochtitlán Aztec temple ruins, and the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral.
Standing in the blazing sun (even in April!) for nearly an hour, our tour guide explained many details of the Zócalo Plaza area. Fascinatingly, in 1978, a routine electrical cable installation here unearthed a colossal 10-foot stone disk, intricately carved with the image of Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec moon goddess, depicted as dismembered by her brother Huitzilopochtli, the war god. This monumental discovery also revealed the long-lost Templo Mayor, the central pyramid of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, which had been razed by Spanish conquistadors in the 1520s. Extensive excavations brought to light a twin pyramid dedicated to the gods Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, along with thousands of artifacts, including sculptures, masks, and sacrificial offerings and led to the establishment of the Templo Mayor Museum in 1987.
(Source: Creative Commons)
(The disk.)
On the northside of the Plaza is the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, a 16th-century Baroque masterpiece dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It houses relics of saints like San Felipe de Jesús and features ornate altars, intricate gold leaf work, and sacred artworks, representative of Mexican Catholicism.
(The striking black El Señor del Veneno (The Lord of Poison) evokes Christ’s absorption of sin, symbolizing His forgiveness and mercy.)
A strange-for-us aspect of the Plaza was the shamans in giant Aztec headdresses approaching us and other tourists for la limpia (cleansing) ritual involving herbs, stones, flowers, candles, and smoke to be performed right there. (In case you were wondering, as practicing Catholics, we did not partake.)
(Late-night treat from Churrería El Moro, the oldest churrería in the city, open 24-hours a day. Churros are typically served with Mexican hot (or cold!) chocolate. Note the old-timey server uniforms.)
Colonias of Coyoacán and Condesa
It was time to explore the countercultural Coyoacán colonia (neighborhood) and meet up with Laura’s former housemate in quirky Condesa.
First, colorful Coyoacán! Its name means “place of the many coyotes” in the Nahuatl language, and it is the second most-visited place here after Tepeyac. The original seat of Spanish rule after the fall of the Aztecs, Coyoacán’s colonial history is evident in places like the 16th century Baroque Parroquia San Juan Bautista church, built over an Aztec school, and the Capilla de La Conchita, a tiny 1520’s chapel. The tree-lined neighborhood with its narrow cobblestoned streets has quiet residential courtyards contrasting with little shops and lively markets denoted by hand-painted signs advertising artisanal fare. Shaped by the likes of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, whose home here is now the popular Casa Azul museum, a sleepy artsy vibe prevails. We wandered around and then lingered in the shady Jardín Centenario where we bought vibrantly embroidered cloth bags for the girls (John’s daughters).
(Again, the all-black corpus of Christ.)
(Coyote fountain. Note the tiles.)
In Condesa we found a bohemian residential neighborhood with Art Deco architecture, trendy cafes, and bustling nightlife, apparently often compared to Greenwich Village. The profusion of parks and trees is what stood out – Jacaranda, Ash, Pine, Ficus, Mexican Fan Palm, and Mexican Cypress to name a few. The highlight of course was our delightful dinner at the restaurant Azul Condesa chosen by our dear Mexico City resident friend. The elegant setting, fantastic food (how different from that in the markets!), and catch-up conversation made for a memorable evening.
(Our Lady of Guadalupe wall sconce.)
Before leaving for home the next day, we returned to the heart of our trip, our faith, and visited Templo Expiatorio Nacional San Felipe de Jesus, grateful for all of the graces of our time here.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
