Tlaxcala and Pátzcuaro, Mexico: Urban Designs to Reflect and Reinforce Concierto Urbano

Mark Lindsay

doi:10.13189/cea.2016.040101

Abstract

Sixteenth-century Spaniards believed that their modular grid, defined by architecture, implanted their concept of ideal urban culture, or politica humana, in new cities in the New World. The ordered morphology with compact lots and central plaza created a concierto, or harmonious accordance, among the residents, both encomenderos and feudal tributaries. Many were superimposed over imposing precolonial urban/ ceremonial centers. At actual conquests, non-European centers were typically demolished, erasing the memory of the old culture. In many others, selected patterns were retained, recognizing the precolonial cultural origins and significance. This essay compares colonial urban designs in two examples in Mexico, both capitals of major Mesoamerican allies: Patzcuaro was a former royal Purepecha capital, later abandoned; Tlaxcala was a confederation of four principalities atop a tall mountain chain, heavily fortified to resist Aztecs, where the sons of the old nobility built a new city center in the level valley below. The colonial urban designs consciously recognized the non-European origins and suggest images of colonial acceptance of, and accordance with, the old culture. They expand understanding of cultural interweaving which Mexican scholars cite in their studies.

Highlights

Spaniards in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries believed that a modular urban grid, defined by architecture, implanted their concept of ideal urban culture, or política humana, in the wave of new towns and cities which they founded in the continental New World
This study examines two colonial capitals built by important allies of Cortes in Mexico/ New Spain: One was Tlaxcala, four confederated city-states in the mountains of central Mexico; the second was the Purépecha kingdom in Michoacán, in the highlands of west-central Mexico
Retention of the seats of the ancient temples overlooking the ordered colonial urban geometries was a significant feature in both examples

Summary

Introduction

Spaniards in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries believed that a modular urban grid, defined by architecture, implanted their concept of ideal urban culture, or política humana, in the wave of new towns and cities which they founded in the continental New World It was further reinforced by construction of imposing structures which defined the town centers, often cited as ennobling them. Especially urban centers in regions where Spanish rule was accepted peacefully, or where the residents became important allies of the Spaniards for their own reasons, selected geometrical patterns and architectural components were often retained Examples suggest that it was a type of recognition of the pre-colonial cultural origins on the part of the Spaniards. The pattern was not limited to Latin America; in Alabama, two important Early Federal towns were platted around, or aligned with, significant Indian mounds. [4]

The First Example Was Tlaxcala

Conclusions