The Museo Nacional del Virreinato (in Spanish, National Museum of the Viceroyalty of New Spain) is located in the former College of San Francisco Javier in Tepotzotlán, Mexico State, Mexico. It belongs to Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. The complex was built by the Aztecs, and used by the Jesuits starting in the 1580s. Three centers of learning were founded in the complex: a school to teach indigenous languages to Jesuit evangelists, a school for native boys, and the College of San Francisco Javier, to train Jesuit priests. The complex comprises three sections: the college area, with dormitories, a library, a kitchen, and a domestic chapel; the Church of San Francisco Javier; and the Church of San Pedro Apostol. The former college and the Church of San Francisco Javier have been converted into the Museo del Virreinato, with the former college area housing a large collection of art and ordinary objects from the colonial era, and the Church of San Francisco Javier housing one of the most important collections of Churrigueresque altarpieces in Mexico. The Church of San Pedro Apostol is the only part of the entire complex that is still used for religious purposes.
The College of San Francisco Javier
The Jesuits arrived in Mexico in 1572, too late for the evangelization of most of the populace of central Mexico, most of which had already been done by other orders such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians by the 1580s. However, the Jesuits did find a need in education. The Jesuits arrived to Tepotzotlán in the 1580s and took up residence in local structures. A local Indian leader, Martín Maldonado, became impressed with the Jesuits, who had already started a school to teach indigenous languages to priests. Maldonado made a large donation to the Jesuits in order begin a school for Indian boys. This school was named San Martín and the boys were taught religion, reading and writing in Spanish and music. In the mid-1580s the training of Jesuit priests was moved from the San Pedro y San Pablo College in Mexico City to a new facility called the College of San Francisco Javier. These schools would make Tepotzotlán one of the most prestigious educational centers in New Spain.
The school complex continued to grow during the 17th century, and the adjoining Church of San Francisco Javier was begun in 1670. The school continued to increase in prestige and size until 1767, when the Jesuits were expelled from all Spanish-held territory, and the Spanish Crown took possession of all Jesuit-held properties.
The college was abandoned for eight years until Archbishop Alonso Nuñez de Haro y Peralta put it under the care of ordinary priests and renamed it the Real Colegio de Instrucción Retiro Voluntario y Corrección del Clero Secular. This institution not only trained new priests, it served as a retirement community for elderly or disabled priests. It also served as a place to send priests who had "committed some kind of error."
The Jesuits returned to former Spanish territories in the mid 19th century but there were not enough of them to take over the institution in Mexico even though it was offered. In 1859, the Reform Laws declared the complex as property of the nation although the Church of San Francisco Javier still kept offering Mass. Because of the poor conditions at penitentiaries at this time, it was decided to use former monasteries and convents for this purpose. However, in spite of the fact that the complex was turned over to the State of Mexico in 1871, the local populace would not permit it to be used as a jail. Later, such would be considered again by Porfirio Díaz, but it never came to pass.
During the Mexican Revolution, the school was still functioning with Father Gonzalo Carrasco as the dean. General Coss ordered the expulsion of the priest and his company as it was rumored that they were trying to reform a monastic order. Knowing that Carrasco was a painter, Coss ordered him to paint a portrait of Venustiano Carranza and renounce his collar. Carrasco refused and was sent to the prison in Teoloyucan, and the students were sent to Mexico City. Soldiers then occupied the complex, sacking it.
The college was abandoned by the Jesuits for good in 1914 and the church was opened to the public. Rumors persisted that great treasures were buried on the complex grounds, forcing the complex to allow searches in 1928, 1931, 1932 and 1934, which caused damage to the main church. The complex was declared a national monument in 1933. The complex is one of the few in Mexico that has been preserved completely intact, including its altarpieces and artworks.