A fascinating insight into the world of faith has opened at the Ex Convento del Carmen in downtown Guadalajara.
The exhibit “Ex Votos de Parras, Historias de fe de un Pueblo Mágico” consists of 98 exvotos created over the course of 150 years that were left in the iconic Santo Madero church in the pueblo magico (magic town) of Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila.
Exvotos are votive offerings to a saint or to a divinity given in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude or devotion. They often include texts explaining a miracle attributed to the helper, or symbols such as a painted or modeled reproduction of a miraculously healed body part.
The examples in the exhibit were created between 1860 and 2006 and include paintings on metal plaques, photographs and objects.
Culture Secretary Myriam Vachez said exvotos are hugely popular in Jalisco, calling them “devotion transformed into popular art.”
The birthplace of former president Francisco I. Madero, heralded as the instigator of the Mexican Revolution, Parras de la Fuente was named a pueblo magico in 2004. Santo Madero is a modest chapel that has been built into a huge rock on top of a small hill overlooking the town.
Parras de la Fuente is also home to Casa Madero, the oldest winery on the American continent, established in 1597.
Ex Convento del Carmen is at Av. Juarez 638, one block from Calzada Federalismo. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, 10 p.m. to 6 p.m. Free. Call 3030-1350 to check for Easter weekend hours.