Landmark 23 km south of Teotihuacán
Diego Rivera's 'Sistine Chapel': a former hacienda chapel at Chapingo's agricultural university covered in his murals.
On the campus of the Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Mexico's national agricultural university near Texcoco, is one of Diego Rivera's masterpieces. Between 1923 and 1927, as the former Hacienda de Chapingo was being turned into the National School of Agriculture, Rivera covered the walls and vault of the hacienda's old chapel with murals celebrating the land, fertility and the struggle of the people who work it. The comparison to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is made so often that it has become part of the chapel's identity.
The paintings work as two great themes facing each other. One wall shows nature and the earth's fertility, with monumental female nudes; Rivera's wife at the time, Guadalupe Marín, posed for the great figure of the fertile earth, and the photographer Tina Modotti also modeled for him. The other wall tells the story of work, revolution and the fight for land, with martyrs of the agrarian movement buried beneath the soil that will feed future harvests. Rivera also painted murals in the university's main administration building.
The school, founded in 1854 in Mexico City, moved here in 1923 under the motto "teach the exploitation of the land, not of man." The campus also has the Museo Nacional de Agricultura, and every October it hosts the Feria Nacional de la Cultura Rural, a big fair of crafts, food and music from rural Mexico.
What to see and do
Stand under the chapel's painted vault and read the two walls as one story.
Find Guadalupe Marín as the great figure of the fertile earth.
See Rivera's murals in the main administration building.
Visit the Museo Nacional de Agricultura on the same campus.
Come in October for the Feria Nacional de la Cultura Rural.
Getting there
Chapingo is just south of Texcoco, about 35 km from San Juan Teotihuacan, roughly 35 to 40 minutes by car on the Mexico–Pirámides highway and the Texcoco road (Highway 142). Buses to Texcoco from Mexico City pass the university gate. Visiting hours and any entrance fee for the chapel change, and access can be limited during university events, so check with the university before you go.
23 km south of Teotihuacán
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Weather mild
Capilla Riveriana de Chapingo shares the climate of Teotihuacán, 23 km away. The best months to visit are Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec.
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Capilla Riveriana de Chapingo is an easy trip from Teotihuacán, a Pueblo Mágico with places to stay, food, and more to see.
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