The San Gabriel Convent dates to 1520 and was built by the Spanish on a site that previously had a temple dedicated to a pre-Columbian deity. The convent was designed in the Plateresque style, a design popular in Spain and its colonies in the 15th and 16th centuries whose name derives from the Spanish word for silver (plata) and meant to evoke the fine, delicate work of silversmiths. (...)
The San Gabriel Convent dates to 1520 and was built by the Spanish on a site that previously had a temple dedicated to a pre-Columbian deity. The convent was designed in the Plateresque style, a design popular in Spain and its colonies in the 15th and 16th centuries whose name derives from the Spanish word for silver (plata) and meant to evoke the fine, delicate work of silversmiths. Natural disasters, including fire and earthquakes, including the major 1999 tremor, had damaged the convent. In addition, the Pilgrim’s Portal, a long, arcaded structure facing the central courtyard, had been filled in with concrete.
