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by Robert de Gast |
Robert de Gast
Born in the Netherlands, Robert de Gast is a well-known, award-winning writer and photographer with a lifelong interest in landscape and architecture. His previous books include:
The Doors of San Miguel de Allende
Five Fair Rivers
The Lighthouses of the Chesapeake
Western Wind, Eastern Shore
Unreal Estate
The Oystermen of the Chesapeake
He divides his time between San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and the Chesapeake.
Within sight of San Miguel, yet centuries removed, Corral de Piedras de Abajo was only a name on a priest's mass schedule I happened to see. The road there ended several hundred yards from the chapel, which was nothing more than a shabby, adobe-walled, tin-covered space on the far side of a barnyard. I inched my way through the mud and noisy pigs toward the "chapel". Tiny, no more than ten by twenty feet, inundated by artificial flowers and high-lighted by Christmas tree stringers, this sorry building possessed nothing to inspire my photographic eye.
I dug into my pocket for some coins to give to the ama de llaves (mistress of the keys). Although my coins would have provided her with food for several days, she placed the pesos into a small box below the altar. "This is for our Virgin de Guadalupe," she said, and I suspected that some time from now, this capillita might boast a new bell tower, a tribute to the mysteries of faith made visible in the churches and chapels of San Miguel de Allende. The engaging treasures of days such as this fueled my search.
-- Robert de Gast
There are nearly 300 churches and chapels in San Miguel de Allende, an astonishing number considering the size of this tiny municipality. There are more than 40 in the town, founded in 1542, a picturesque cultural and artistic enclave near the geographic center of Mexico. Hundreds are scattered throughout the countryside, yet none are more than a dozen miles from the well-known La Parroquia in the center of San Miguel. Most of the churches date back to the early 18th and 19th centuries; many are of great historical importance - and all are fascinating.
Following on the heels of his best-selling The Doors of San Miguel de Allende, author and photographer Robert de Gast offers and illuminating account of the architecture of this historically significant part of Mexico, and tenders a fascinating photographic essay with more than 80 beautiful color pictures. Showing the charming and the curious, the ornate and the simple, the spectacular and the ruined, the reader will enjoy an armchair journey through San Miguel de Allende and its countryside.
The year-long search for these often abandoned and forgotten buildings became a wonderful treasure hunt. There were no maps to help locate these treasures. Many were found with the help of priests; mass schedules, Coca-Cola truck drivers who ford rivers to reach tiny ranchos, and friendly campesinos who led the way to yet another hidden chapel.
Robert de Gast has uncovered a myriad of architectural gems in San Miguel de Allende. It is with a boundless sense of discovery and an admiration for the beauty of these churches and chapels that this book has been created. Enjoy, and ¡buenas aventuras!
