The Sacromonte is the natural viewpoint of the volcanoes. From its small square it gives the impression that Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl bend like an immense wave leaving in the undertow the beautiful town of Amecameca with its unique market, smelling of the most varied mestizo gastronomy.
Its monumental Dominican convent of La Asunción (1547-1562) dominates between the dawning houses with gabled roof of Marseille tile. Sacromonte is tiny and has a cave as its heart. In it Fray Martín de Valencia, the superior of the first 12 Franciscans to arrive in Mexico in 1524, contemplated God from his introspection. From there the apostle looked down as an intermediary between the two abysses: the divinity and the despondency of the Indian, ideality and reality.
The friar macerated his meat in penance and descended to sow in fertile land. He died in Ayotzingo (1534) and his body rested for 30 years in Tlalmanalco, from where it was stolen incorrupt by the Amecameca Indians and transferred to Sacromonte where as a relic he accentuates devotion to the Holy Lord of Sacromonte; a Christ (weighing approximately three kilos) lacerated and thrown down by the weight of a fallen humanity whom he redeemed. The legend says that the image of Christ was carried by a mule in a box.
The pilgrims go up to the hill praying the Way of the Cross, for which ancient Mexico raised the fourteen stations or altars commemorating their saving passion. The person praying is crowned with flowers and offers them to the Lord upon arrival. The entire construction site of the Sacromonte, including the Stations of the Cross, were built around 1835 by the priest José Guillermo Sánchez de la Barquera and correspond to the neoclassical style.
The image of the Lord of Sacromonte is venerated on Ash Wednesday. At the party - enlivened by some musical bands - the neighbors bring out the image in a solemn procession.
