Actopan, Hidalgo, San Nicolás de Tolentino

A massive convento 36 kilometers outside of Hidalgo’s capital of Pachuca, San Nicolás de Tolentio represents the pinnacle of Augustinian grandeur in 16th century New Spain. Built in the 1550s under the plans and guidance of friar Andrés de Mata, its masterful façade portal perspective, gargantuan bell tower (Moorish in style), perfectly configured cloister arches, beautifully preserved cloister murals, and magnificent open-air chapel whose vault is unsurpassed in width by any other capilla abierta in Mexico, make the Actopan church a priceless jewel of colonial architecture.