No name more graphic than "Los Remedios" to explain the history of this Sanctuary.
The defeat suffered by Hernán Cortés, in the battle of La Noche Triste, put the survivors in hasty flight to the ceremonial center built for the veneration of their idols in the place called Naucalpan: place of the four houses. We know that they suffered heavy casualties and even the loss of notable hostages such as some of Moctezuma's sons.
The conquerors became strong in the Indian temples until they could go out to Otumba. There is a legend that one of Cortés's soldiers, Gonzalo Rodríguez de Villafuerte, brought one of these images, little ones, also called military men, who were wrapped around the horse's tientos, and he hid it among the magueys to later give him a vote of thanks . It is also said that during the battle, a sweet girl threw dirt in the eyes of the attacking natives, favoring the Castilian victory.
However, there is another legend that says that the Virgen de los Remedios appeared on the Cerro de los Pájaros. In 1574 a chapel was built and in 1628 the vault and cupola were added.
The Virgen de los Remedios, associated with the Conquest, would essentially be the Spanish Virgin and the patron saint of the indigenous people, who, by embracing the Hispanic alliance, take her as a special protector. It will replace, as in many places, the pre-Hispanic cult and will establish the protection of the four new cardinal points with the Virgin of Guadalupe in Tepeyac, the Virgin of Mercy to the south and Our Lady of La Bala to the east.
The image that houses this Shrine is 27 cm high and is carved and stewed. It would generate the first processions in Mexico City, leaving the church of Santa Veracruz with great pomp and ending in its temple in Naucalpan, without missing religious, political, civil, military and cultural groups. There was no balcony that did not pay tribute to the Virgen de los Remedios. Its festival takes place on September 1st and is commemorated with dances such as "Los Apaches" "Los Moros", "Chichimeca" and "Pastorcitas"
The defense character was so accentuated that the New Hispanics gave the Virgin de los Remedios the degree of Generala, and during the war of Independence with great religious ignorance, they confronted the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is said that the insurgents shot her while the royalists did the same with the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The temple has suffered the vicissitudes of a continuous cult so it keeps testimonies of its last times and the contempt that these have shown for the previous ones.
Without a doubt, the most interesting thing is its aqueduct flanked by two huge spiral towers that served as a vent. It was built by the viceroy Marqués de Duadalcazar in 1616 and brings half an orange of water from Chimalpa. However, other sources indicate that its construction was carried out in 1650. The arches are slender and of magnificent proportions.
[See map of Sanctuaries of the State of Mexico]
