Lilliana Garduño drove us to Mexico City from Teotihuacán on Monday afternoon and parked in the underground garage beneath the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We entered the basilica, one of a complex of buildings honoring the Virgin Mary. She appeared to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531, a mere ten years after Hernán Cortés captured Tenochtitlan from Montezuma. Many link the acceptance of Christianity by the indigenous people of Mexico to the apparition.
The most famous relic of the apparition is the image of the Virgin Mary painted on the Tilma or cloak of Juan Diego. It is displayed behind the altar of the basilica. The visitor can descend a ramp that leads behind the altar, and then view the image by standing, with other visitors, on moving sidewalks. The image depicts a dark-haired woman, her hands folded in prayer, standing upon a black fingernail moon. A turquoise cloak, dappled with gold stars and a gold border, covers her head and shoulders. Beneath her robe she wears a garment with a floral pattern, bound with a high belt. Some have interpreted this as a sign of pregnancy and have found allusions in her dress to the Aztec deities. In the eyes of many Catholics, the Virgin of Guadalupe affirmed the dignity of the indigenous people of Mexico.
From the “New” Basilica, we walked to the “Old” Basilica of Guadalupe, which had been dedicated in 1709. Over the years, it had begun to sink into the soft soil of Mexico City. It has now been stabilized, but it still leans and appears unsteady. Villa de Guadalupe, Lilliana took us back to our BnB. It had been a long day, and we planned to go in the morning to the Anthropological Museum.