Santa Prisca and San Sebastian, Taxco

Visitors have marvelled at the colour of this famous church. regarded as one of the most beautiful in the New World it remains a mystery to me. I want to promote it and share what I have discovered.
The blue skies, and the sunlight affect the blue green and orange of the dome especially after a sudden shower. The main bulding is of pinkish golden stone which can become rose coloured or dark golden like tidal sands. The great facade or espedana shoots above the roof line like tail feathers.
It is helped by its position in a beautiful old colonial town. It is the result of riches gained from silver mining. Just as the great wool churches of Suffolk and the Cotswalds in England are the product of profits from wool, this and other Mexican churches benefited from silver.

Don Jose de la Borda put his money into its construction in the mid 18th century so that his son, Manuel, would be the priest celebrating Mass  here. It is dedicated to St Sebastian(of arrow fame in so many portraits) and St Prisca ( a young virgin martyr of the Roman nobility martyred around 270). The church was built 1751-9 with Don Jose himself heavily involved. Architects were Diego Duran and Juan Caballero.

It is a perfect example of the Churrigesque style. This originated with Jose Churriguera (1650-1723)from Salamanca. His style started with classicism (or Renaissanand ce) then injected Plateresque elements, winning a competition in Madrid in 1689. He had two sons, a grandson and a nephew who continued and developed what became known as the Churriguesque style. This became the major style in Mexico, and yet none of them actually went there! It was introduced there by Jeronimo de Balbas for the altar de los Reyes in the Cathedral in Mexico City in 1718. It is a very ornate style which often appears like stalectites and a vertical sense that has nothing to do with the structure. The style was helped by the lack of great architects and frequent earthquakes. This meant that a simple stucture could be made impressive and elegant comparatively  easily. It seems to me a total style that can be used externally and internally. To English eyes it will seem over ornate. Rather than go into details lets look at some pictures from Flickr Creative Commons.