Temple of San Felipe Neri "La Profesa"
| Temple of San Felipe Neri Templo de San Felipe Neri (in Spanish) |
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Facade of La Profesa
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Geographic coordinates | 19°26′1.44″N 99°8′11.57″W / 19.4337333°N 99.1365472°WCoordinates: 19°26′1.44″N 99°8′11.57″W / 19.4337333°N 99.1365472°W |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| District | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico |
| Country | Mexico |
| Year consecrated | 31 July 1610 |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Parish church |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) | Juan Pérez de Soto, Pedro de Arrieta |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Baroque, Neo-classical |
| Groundbreaking | 1597 |
| Completed | 1610 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 55 metres (180 ft) |
| Width | 55 metres (180 ft) |
| Width (nave) | 30 metres (98 ft) |
| Materials | masonry and tezontle |
The Temple of San Felipe Neri, commonly known as "La Profesa" (English: the Professed house), is a Roman Catholic parish church that was established by the Society of Jesus late in the 16th century as the church of a community of professed Jesuits. The church is considered to be an important transitional work between the more sober or moderate Baroque style of the 17th century and the extremely decorated manifestations of the Baroque of the 18th century in Mexico.
Located at the corner of Madero and Isabel la Católica Streets in Mexico City, diagonally opposite the Museo del Estanquillo, its original name was “La Iglesia de la Casa Profesa.” This church is well known for being the site of a number of historical events, including the “La Profesa Conspiracy,” which was instrumental in bringing Agustín de Iturbide to power and the “Polkos Rebellion”.
More recently, this church was the scene for deliberations relating to the beatification of Juan Diego. The church is also noted for its very large collection of colonial-era artworks spanning three centuries by some of Mexico’s best artists including Cristóbal de Villalpando, Juan Correa, Pellegrí Clavé and José de Alcíbar.
The first Jesuit priests did not arrive to Mexico until 1572. By this time, most of the missionary work in central Mexico had been completed by other orders, such as the Augustinians and the Dominicans. Nonetheless, the Jesuits established their professed house here in 1578 and later a church, using property purchased from Fernando Noriega just to the west of the Zócalo in Mexico City. This causes a legal dispute with orders that were already there, as the Franciscans, Dominican and Augustinians, who considered the land within their jurisdiction, but the Jesuits won in 1595. The house was called “Casa Profesa.” The first church was funded primarily by Alonso de Villaseca - commonly known as the “creso mexicano” (Mexican Croesus) - with donations from Fernando Núñez de Obregón and Juan Luis de Rivera. This church was built between 1597 and 1610 with Juan Pérez de Soto as architect. The first church was consecrated on 31 July 1610, the feast day of the recently beatified Saint Ignatius of Loyola. It was given the name of "Church of the Professed House" (Spanish: Iglesia de la Casa Profesa (English: Church of the House of the Professed, but commonly this name was shortened to "La Profesa" ).
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