An Upscale Religious Refuge Near Mexico City
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
March 6, 2011
MEXICO - Valle de Bravo -- a lakeside community of 57,000 in the pine-covered hills two hours west of Mexico City -- feels almost quintessentially small-town Mexico. A dusty half-hour drive later, we arrived at our destination: a gleaming white stupa encircled by the bright, primary colors of Tibetan prayer flags. The temple, consecrated in December by the Tibetan cultural association Garuda Mexico, is the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, my guides claimed. The next day, we visited Valle de Bravo's oldest church, the 17th-century Templo de Santa Maria Ahuacatlan. The church is a site of pilgrimage for Catholics from around the region, who travel here to deposit offerings and pray for miracles. Another religious destination, the Centro de Espiritualidad Carmel Maranatha, not quite four miles outside town, is more striking still. Built in the 1970s, this Carmelite sanctuary has grounds decorated with fountains, flowers and religious sculpture collected from around the world. [link]
March 6, 2011
MEXICO - Valle de Bravo -- a lakeside community of 57,000 in the pine-covered hills two hours west of Mexico City -- feels almost quintessentially small-town Mexico. A dusty half-hour drive later, we arrived at our destination: a gleaming white stupa encircled by the bright, primary colors of Tibetan prayer flags. The temple, consecrated in December by the Tibetan cultural association Garuda Mexico, is the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, my guides claimed. The next day, we visited Valle de Bravo's oldest church, the 17th-century Templo de Santa Maria Ahuacatlan. The church is a site of pilgrimage for Catholics from around the region, who travel here to deposit offerings and pray for miracles. Another religious destination, the Centro de Espiritualidad Carmel Maranatha, not quite four miles outside town, is more striking still. Built in the 1970s, this Carmelite sanctuary has grounds decorated with fountains, flowers and religious sculpture collected from around the world. [link]
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