It is located on the corner formed by Calle 53 and Calle 12, about a hundred meters from the Cathedral Church in the historical center of Campeche City.

As a result of the population’s rate growth and to avoid that the faithful the necessity of going all the way to the Church of San Francisco to mass, in 1560 just at the heart of the villa they erected a simple open chapel built over sticks and palm tree, which was named Jesus The Nazarene.

Time after it functioned as presbytery, in stone vault and the nave with palms; the first one was preserved, and the second one was substituted by a masonry construction divided with arches and roofed with wooden beams. Jesus’ Church offered religious services to the Spaniards, the half-caste and Negroes since the second half of the XVII century, and in 1705 the parish church became the vicar see in Cápite, substituting the present Cathedral of Campeche.

On that time this church was the parish church of the Brown and Negroes. In 1685, the pirates Laurent Graff and Gramont devastated the villa, taking with them all the jewels, paintings, sculptures and images of the church after destroying the altars and the parish’s archive.

Towards 1901, the diocese’s administrator Valerio Cuoto, built the construction of the Capilla del Santísimo Sacramento (Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament) where he set the image of the Santísima Trinidad (Most Holly Trinity) and restored the other altars.

The parish is an austere construction, as on the Franciscans style. Its walls of thick masonry are reinforced by great buttresses which end in merlons, these last ones, some where built in the XVI century and are the smaller ones, the others where built in the XVII century which are taller and sharper, giving an aspect of a small fortress.

Its main façade has no decoration but a bell gable and under it there is the chancel- modified possibly in the XIX century with the construction of the console with neoclassic details.-, and the main access with a half point arch. The edifice consists of a sole nave divided in five sections by pilasters with capitol and arches which support the roof’s thrusts.

The most interesting part of the Jesus’ Church is the inside of it. The presbytery is roofed by a cannon vault and the rest of the nave with a wooden frame. The presbytery is separated from the rest of the nave by a series of steps because it is in a more elevated position, and in its interior there is the major altar in which we can appreciate a simple wood cypress of the neoclassic style- probably of the XIX century-, genre introduced to Mexico during the viceroyalty.

Next to it there is the chapel of the Most holy Sacrament, which lodges a retable of the same style. The nave has two altars, one dated 1901 and the other one, dedicated to the most holy Trinity, dated 1902, both in neoclassic style. On the south side of the temple there is the confessional and the pulpit. There are three retables, two in the Baroque style, one of them characteristic of the Solomon style – named like that for the column’s shaft border -, and the third one, without a definite style, dated 1786.

The church has crystal lamps, marble floor and a paint which represents the Trinity and the archangel Gabriel in the purgatory dated June 1659. The whole construction is surrounded by a beautiful framed atrium, which enlarges even more its fortress appearance.

Merlon top of a wall similar to small towers which are separated from each other for military purposes or to take a view of the field.

Half point arch: arch formed by a semi circle.

Vault: particular disposition of the stones of bricks describing a circular arch, with various thickness and depths.

Cannon vault a vault shaped as a half hallow cylinder.

Capitol superior part of a column characteristic of various styles.

Cypress: major altar formed by four altars set together.

Buttresses Masonry block lifted in salient on a wall to aim it or to reinforce it, this element was broadly used in the churches.

Bell gable special steeple formed by a single wall with holes as windows which hold the bells.

Shaft central part of a column, with a cylindrical shape, it can be smooth or fluted.

Console element decorated with several moldings, which outstands from the vertical .planes and that serves to support parts of the edifice or architectural monument.

Nave each one of the sections of a church divided by columns or pilasters.

Neoclassic related with the neoclassicism, literary and artistic trend of the XVIII century, which restores the classic taste.

Pilaster square column

Presbytery : the section of a church reserved for the clergy.

Pulpit Place of the churches’ preachers.

Casanova Rosado, Aída Amine. Campeche intramuros. Col Raíces Campechanas. Campeche: universidad Autónoma de Campeche, 1995. 42-47.

Las iglesias coloniales del puerto de Campeche. Publicaciones de la Universidad del Sudeste. Campeche, 1986. Págs. 49-57.

Vergara B., Sergio de la L. Apuntes de terminología arquitectónica del siglo XVII. Centro Regional INAH Puebla, SEP, UAP. Puebla, 1987.

Constantes tipológicas de la arquitectura campechana. Trabajo Inédito.