RATING: ♦♦♦♦
Ocotlán is a very old city. It was founded in 1530, but currently has a population of 100,000, and is a center for furniture manufacturing. It has a wonderful large plaza with two cathedrals on each end. One is named La Purisima (“The Most Pure”), which is one of the oldest buildings in Jalisco. The altar is dipped in gold. The other was built in the late 1800s and dedicated to Nuestro Señor de Misericordia (Our Merciful Lord), which honors a vision of Christ seen after an extremely destructive earthquake.
Next to Nuestro Señor de Misericordia is a large outdoor crucifix of Christ atop a tall tower, making it a dominant feature of the plaza. It was built to commemorate a vision of Christ that was experienced by 1,500 people in the city following a massive earthquake on October 2, 1847.
The earthquake destroyed most of the city, including the original church. The following day, a Sunday, when the faithful were attending a Mass outside of the destroyed church, a vision of the crucifix was seen by the large crowd. The vision was investigated both by church and civil authorities, and determined to be valid. In classic Mexican style, there are giant murals on the walls inside the church outlining the entire event.
Of course, whether it happened or not is a matter for faith. But it is clear that the people of Ocotlán believed it then and believe it now. For them, it is a recognized event, not to be forgotten. It has become a Catholic tradition passed from generation to generation, with celebrations taking place in Ocotlán, and even in the US, especially by those who have migrated there from Ocotlán. They refer to it as a “Prodigio”, meaning “a wonder or marvel”. Despite our American evangelical christian bias, we found it very inspiring.
Our guide walked us across the plaza to the municipal hall. Inside on the ceiling was a huge stained glass installed in 2011 for a cost of $800,000MX (roughly $40,000USD). It displays Ocotlan history. It was very impressive.
Before leaving town, we made a quick stop at the anthropology museum. It was started in 1975 when a collector who had a number of locals artifacts wanted to protect them from being sold on the black market. His collection, while it consisted of 80 good pieces, was not valuable enough to be of interest to any of the major archeological museums in Mexico, so he decided to build one in Ocotlan as a gift to the city. It is a surprisingly good collection covering the last 4,000 years of cultures in and near Jalisco.
Next stop-Jamay.