By Luis Felipe Rodriguez Palacios
Miguel Malo states: “The chapels or “Calvaries of the Conquest,” were authorized by means of royal certificates and at the request of the prominent Indians: chiefs and conquerors. The metropolis shrewdly agreed to these requests. These were paid many times over with favors, submissions, alliances or political and religious loyalties; all of which gives us the background to understand and explain the magical atmosphere of our city.”
We still find some of these chapels although many have been destroyed because of disuse or because of the so-called «constructive» spirit that fails to respect these works that anchor us with our past. Here is a list of some of them: Capilla de Indios del Señor de la Piedad, on Órganos; Chapel of the Holy Kings, on Cinco de Mayo; Chapel of San Francisco Colorado, in the neighborhood of Cuevitas; Chapel of the Ojo de Agua neighborhood; and behind it one that once had a Señor del Llanito that was taken to the Ojo de Agua chapel; and several more.
Behind the Cruz de Palo Cuarto at the Salida a Querétaro, there is a chapel dedicated to the Lord of Mercy. María Luisa Ortiz Ramírez informs us that her great-grandfather owned that lot. Then her grandfather sold it little by little until only a small space was left. This is where the atrium would have been, her father, who was a mason, built a couple of rooms there. She says that her grandfather used to say that it was named Cruz del Cuarto because of a large tree next to the cross. She says that many people were executed on that site, some were dismembered and their parts were buried nearby.
She told us that he worked on some houses in the general area of the Chapel behind the Cruz del Pueblo. However, when they dug up the ditch to make the foundations, some “burials” were found. They had to modify the layout so as not to disturb the dead; some of the bodies had what appeared to be military clothes. When he was about ten years old, he used to cut nopales on that hill and took them to the Dominican mothers or the Adoring mothers who reciprocated with food.
She claims to have a sixth sense in knowing people, and says that in some, she can feel that they have a bad vibe. For example, she said that on several occasions she has witnessed many people coming in to visit the chapel. But then when she followed them inside, she could no longer see them. “I’m not afraid,” she said. “I stay inside the chapel. I have long talks with the Lord to whom I tell my problems and I know that, although I am already without a husband, He will provide what I need. He even blessed me with this granddaughter who accompanies me, well, my daughter, when she realized that she has problems, well she doesn’t hear, she had better leave.”
The Chapel is dedicated to the Lord of Mercy. The access is in a small alley along Salida a Querétaro, Unfortunately, it is plagued by the typical problems of lack of maintenance.
