WESTFAÇADEMiguel de Ontiveros · 1744

The architectural jewel that defines Durango today

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History and Style

The Splendor of Full Baroque

Miguel de Ontiveros · Zacatecas · 1744

The west façade is an open book where carved stone narrates the transition of styles and the skill of the master stonecutters. Its beginning is placed around 1744 under the direction of Master Miguel Ontiveros, originally from Zacatecas and accompanied by his sons, who brought to Durango the splendor of full baroque, characterized by an ornamental density that sought to reflect divine glory through infinite detail.

A New Supreme Order

The first body is governed by a "new supreme order" where the attached columns are transformed into sculptural canvases: anthropomorphic figures, deep striations, and rings segmenting the verticality coexist with helical grapes — a clear Eucharistic allusion — culminating in fine Corinthian capitals.

Curatorial text: Museum of the Cathedral Basilica of Durango · Archdiocese of Durango

Historical research: Historian José Alonso Martínez Barrios

Miguel de Ontiveros · 1744

The First Body

On the left, Saint John the Apostle stands with the eagle, his attribute, and above him Christ dictates the Gospel from an aedicule with a scallop shell and a grotesque gable. The central bay holds the semicircular archivolt, whose spandrels display the "Thrones" — angelic caryatids, first celestial hierarchy, with wings interlaced with palms symbolizing martyrdom. The coffered door immortalizes Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Augustine of Hippo.

On the right, in perfect symmetry, Saint Luke and the bull flank the composition. The entablature frieze transforms the façade into a visual prayer: each symbol of the Lauretan Litany finds its equivalent in stone. The cornice closes with the Pantocrator, a doctrinal seal that validates the entire structure before giving way to the second body.

Pedro de Huertas · Neostyle · 1764

The Second Body

In 1764, under the episcopate of Pedro Tamarón y Romeral, Pedro de Huertas completed the second body introducing the "neostyle" style: greater visual lightness and geometric complexity centered on the estipite column. Two central estipites and four composite columns frame the aedicules of Saint Mark and Saint George in contrapposto. The shafts display helical garlands over striations and bases with caryatids and floral motifs.

The crowning is a piece of heraldry and faith: the cathedral shield displays the Sun, the Moon, the Ladder, and the Marian Monogram. Two seraphim crown the Virgin and the episcopal galero frames the inscription "Eclesiæ Novæ Cantabriæ Capitulum." A central angel grants the final blessing, closing the artistic cycle that began with the Zacatecan tradition of Ontiveros.

Gallery

WEST FAÇADE — Catedral Basílica de Durango