Templo de Nuestra Señora de Fátima
A classical gothic structure, this building would be at home in Spain or Germany (except for the pink cantera cladding). I love its soaring vertical lines and the profusion of towers.
The Iglesia Fátima is modeled on the Basílica Fátima, located in the town of the same name in Portugal, the site of an apparition in 1917 of the Virgin to three peasant children. It has since become the object of many pilgrimages.
Here in Zacatecas, construction of the Iglesia Fátima began around 1950 and was completed in the 1990s. To my untrained eye, there exists an impalpable modern feel to the building, whether because of the lack of weathering, or restraint in the use of exterior detail.
Nevertheless Mexican architectural playfulness creeps in here and there. The canales (rain spouts) are carved stone creatures—lions?—with ornamented metal spouts in their mouths.
The stained glass windows seem more colorful than older European examples, and their subjects are rendered in simpler, perhaps cleaner fashion. The window on the right has an almost psychedelic spiral in the background. Peace, man.
In the churches I visit, I frequently find displays depicting development of the human fetus. Their purpose plainly is not to provide biology lessons: that's hardly the mission of the Church. Displays like this are intended to discourage abortion. In them, models of blastulas are accompanied by text to the effect that such are complete human beings possessing souls.
Although not Catholic, I frequently enter churches to pray and meditate. These quiet, dim, sacred places help me find inner peace. Displays like the above are, for me, jarring and intrusive. But then, Iglesia Fátima is not my church. I'm just borrowing it for a little while. So as a good guest, I'll just keep my opinions to myself, and express gratitude for the hospitality offered me.