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Palace of the Inquisition, Mexico City, Mexico
Located at the corner of Mexico City’s República de Brasil and República de Venezuela, the Palace of the Inquisition remains a haunting relic of the Spanish Inquisition. By 1571, the Palace acted as the official headquarters for the Inquisition of Mexico, then known as New Spain. Colonial Spain populated the dungeons with “enemies” of Christianity: individuals suspected of practicing Judaism, political reformists, and women accused of witchcraft. For centuries, the Palace was the site of the Inquisition’s bloody agenda of torture and execution until the eventual abolition of the Inquisition in 1820. [1] Although the Palace is now home to the Museum of Mexican Medicine, the building’s violent history still haunts its walls.
Description
Setting: The ghostly presence of the Palace looms over Mexico City’s Santo Domingo Plaza. Although the Palace’s walls do not face the Santo Domingo Plaza, architect Pedro de Arrieta designed the building’s canted corner to allow the Palace’s entrance to face the Plaza. [2] The Plaza derives its namesake from the Church of Santo Domingo, one of the first monasteries of New Spain. The Palace is also an unlikely neighbor to the historic house of Leona Vicario, a prominent leader of the Mexican War of Independence.
The sprawling Baroque Palace housed the Spanish church and covenant, administrative and government offices, and, most notably, the dungeons that imprisoned the accused. [3] The Palace of the Inquisition will be forever remembered for its infamous dungeons and prison cells, which became the site of gruesome executions and torture of Mexico’s Jewish populations. The Palace’s prisons were commonly referred to as the Cárcel Perpetua, or “of perpetuity,” because few of its prisoners would leave the cells alive. The dungeons held a labyrinth of small, dark, and concrete prison cells. [4] According to floor plans developed by Architect Joaquín de Heredia in 1831 and Palace visitor—and later prisoner, Stephen F. Austin in 1822 and 1834, the dungeons held secret passageways and “dark staircases” utilized by the guards of the Inquisition. [5] The secret passageways made life in the Palace’s dungeons even more fearsome for its prisoners because they were unable to predict the appearance of the guards. [6]
Jewish History: “To practice Judaism is not heresy; it is the will of the Lord our God,” were the words penned by the Palace’s famous victim of the Inquisition Luis de Rodriguez Carvajal. [7] The words echoed the resilience of Mexico’s persecuted Jewish population during the Inquisition. Iberian Jews joined expeditions to New Spain in the hopes of distancing themselves from the persecution of the Spanish Inquisition. These Jews, known as Conversos or “Crypto-Jews,” publicly portrayed themselves as Catholics, but practiced Judaism in secret. Unfortunately, the persecution of Jews continued in New Spain. [8] Historians estimate that 29 out of the suspected 50 executions during the Mexican Inquisition were of individuals accused of practicing Judaism. [9]
Current Status: Following the abolition of the Spanish Inquisition in 1820, the Palace was an unpopular fixture in Post-Independence Mexico due to its tortured and bloody history. The Palace was abandoned until it was eventually bought in 1838 by the archbishopric. The building was later purchased by the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1854 to house its school of medicine and nursing. Today, visitors can explore the University’s Museum of Mexican Medicine within the Palace’s walls.
Sources
Footnotes:
[1] Bruce Clavey. "The Inquisition Dungeon of Stephen F. Austin." Medium. May 17, 2019. https://medium.com/save-texas-history/the-inquisition-dungeon-of-stephen-f-austin-ef258d1c73be
[2] Monsieur Mictlan. "Palace of the Inquisition." Atlas Obscura. October 23, 2018. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/palace-of-the-inquisition-mexico
[3] Clavey. “The Inquisition Dungeon.”
[4] Mictlan. “Palace of the Inquisition.”
[5] Clavey. “The Inquisition Dungeon.”
[6] Ibid.
[7] Yvette Alt Miller. "The Secret Jew & Incredible Survival of His Lost Manuscript." Aish. January 7, 2017. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-Secret-Jew--Incredible-Survival-of-his-Lost-Manuscript.html
[8] Barbara Ferry and Debbie Nathan. "Mistaken Identity? The Case of New Mexico's "Hidden Jews"." The Atlantic. September 26, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/12/mistaken-identity-the-case-of-new-mexicos-hidden-jews/378454/
[9] John F. Chuchiak. The Inquisition in New Spain, 1536-1820: A Documentary History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.
Bibliography:
Chuchiak, John F. The Inquisition in New Spain, 1536-1820: A Documentary History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.
Clavey, Bruce. "The Inquisition Dungeon of Stephen F. Austin." Medium. May 17, 2019. https://medium.com/save-texas-history/the-inquisition-dungeon-of-stephen-f-austin-ef258d1c73be
Ferry, Barbara; Nathan, Debbie. "Mistaken Identity? The Case of New Mexico's "Hidden Jews"." The Atlantic. September 26, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/12/mistaken-identity-the-case-of-new-mexicos-hidden-jews/378454/
Mictlan, Monsieur. "Palace of the Inquisition." Atlas Obscura. October 23, 2018. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/palace-of-the-inquisition-mexico
Miller, Yvette Alt. "The Secret Jew & Incredible Survival of His Lost Manuscript." Aish. January 7, 2017. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-Secret-Jew--Incredible-Survival-of-his-Lost-Manuscript.html
Researched and composed by Madeline Hudalla June 14, 2019
Additional Sources and Reading:
Gessell, Paul. "Healing and Hurting, All in One Building in Mexico." CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal. October 02, 2012. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470647/.
Green, David B. "This Day in Jewish History / The Inquisition Reaches Mexico." Haaretz. April 10, 2018. https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-the-inquisition-reaches-mexico-1.5323893.
Prods, Filaos. "Historic Center of Mexico C." Historic Center of Mexico City. March 10, 2015. https://www.sunofmexico.com/mexico_city_historic_center.php.