Time Travel into the Past

 Once you walk through this medieval looking door, it gives one direct access into the past! The largest and oldest cathedral of the Americas, The Metropolitan Cathedral is situated in the heart of the historical district of Mexico City. I visit this cathedral each time I come into Mexico City as it is so close to one of the hotels I stay at either after arrival or just before departure to and from the international airport. I can never tire of it's ambient energy that seems to easily transport me back in time some 500 years.

Cortes and his Spanish missionaries converted the Aztec in the 16th century, they tore down their grandiose temples and used much of the stone to construct a church on the site. Nearly all of the stone from the nearby Templo Mayor was built into the cathedral. Built across three centuries, we can recognize Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical elements which harmoniously come together to form a piece of great cultural and spatial richness, unique in its genre.  

 

The first stone of the Cathedral was placed by Hernán Cortes in 1524 in an act of great symbolic significance, as it was placed at the crossing of the avenues which, from the four cardinal points, lead to the sacred and spiritual centre of the Aztec capital  and an energetic centre of the American continents

Just inside this doorway is a myriad of passages and doorways, transporting one into a state of timelessness, especially upon climbing the bell tower. Truly a symphony of stone. The spiritual energy of antiquity flows freely through this magnificent work of architecture.


The cathedral has 25 bells—eighteen hang in the east bell tower and seven in the west tower. The largest bell is named the Santa Maria de Guadalupe and weighs around 13,000 kilograms


The following triptych represents my best expression of the cathedral. An extension of passageways, stairwells, doorways, and further  portals into the past. A walk through this cathedral is nothing short of spellbinding.

                                                                                                                                   

Here's a couple of views of the interior of the cathedral. Majestic, mystical, spiritual and certainly as spacious and heavenly as meant to be in it's design.

The lighting was a challenge here, I think I set the ISO at about 6400, and held my breath each time I gently squeezed the shutter. One time I tried to use a monopod for extra brace but was asked to put it away. Tripods and monopods are not permitted.










The design of the interior of the church is to reflect the feeling of the heavens from the inside. I have exemplified this notion with a composite image of some soft sunset colored clouds. 

 The exterior of the cathedral is also quite beautiful at night when all lit up. Here too I have added another sky that I had shot earlier that week to introduce a more dramatic element into the photo.