New campaign calls on Mexicans to rediscover the capital’s heart through revered churches

MEXICO CITY (AP) — La Profesa church in downtown Mexico City has endured through a tumultuous history. An uprising left bullet holes in its walls in 1847. A fire devoured its wooden floors decades later. Its foundation continues to sink due to unstable ground.

“What makes this space important is that it remains alive and continues to be in use,” art historian Alejandro Hernández said.

Hernández works with a handful of experts to preserve and promote the capital’s heritage through the Mexico City Historic Center Trust, which operates under the municipal government.

The trust recently launched an initiative aimed at encouraging Mexicans to reconnect with the historic heart of the city. The program includes visits to more than 40 churches, among them La Profesa, as part of 26 cultural activities planned for 2026.

“We wish for young people to get interested in their own heritage,” said Anabelí Contreras, head of outreach at the trust.

Her team constantly runs campaigns highlighting historical facts about the area.

They promote workshops and exhibitions, such as one celebrating the 700th anniversary of the founding of Tenochtitlan, the powerful Aztec capital that once stood on the site of present-day Mexico City. And the trust’s magazine, Kilómetro Cero, showcases hidden gems in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Experts like Hernández go one step further. They team up to restore treasured buildings like La Profesa, which was severely damaged by a deadly earthquake in 2017.

“After the quake, the valuable art collection inside the sanctuary’s gallery suffered the most,” he said. “We haven’t been able to reopen that space to the public yet, but we’re working on it.”

Each building overseen by the trust has treasures to protect. La Profesa’s uniqueness lies in the paintings it preserves, Hernández said.

“What is exceptional is that so many of the paintings originally made for the church have survived,” he said.

Founded by the Jesuits in 1610, the site later took the form of the church seen today. It was rebuilt by renowned architect Pedro de Arrieta in 1714.

Its heritage includes textiles worn to this day by priests celebrating Mass, relics displayed each Nov. 2 to mark Dia de Muertos, the Day of the Dead, and the artworks that led to the inauguration of a public gallery in the 1970s.

“The heritage found in this church today dates from the 17th through the 21st centuries,” Hernández said.

The gallery safeguarding La Profesa’s paintings lies hidden from sight on its upper floor. The space now looks renewed, but bringing it back to life was a delicate, almost surgical process.

Alejandra Barrón, an architect from the trust who oversaw its two restoration stages, said some of the cracks left by the 2017 quake were so severe that one could look into the walls of neighboring buildings.

“The entire floor was replaced, the cracks were stitched together, and the plasterwork was carefully restored,” she said.

There is still work to be done and the timing of its completion remains uncertain. But for now, Barrón is relieved to see some of the artworks hanging on the walls again.

“It’s unusual to find a church that can also serve as a gallery or a museum,” she said. “If these paintings were removed from here, they would no longer carry the same meaning.”

A few meters (yards) away stands the church of Santo Domingo. Founded by Dominican friars in the 16th century and rebuilt by de Arrieta nearly two centuries later, the sanctuary bears witness to the capital’s transformation.

The church currently dominates the landscape, yet it used to be part of a far larger complex. Most of its chapels and convent gradually were destroyed. A new street was later paved through the site, effectively splitting the complex into two.

Across from the church stands a residential compound where remains of the convent’s arches can be seen. The trust works closely with the community to preserve the site.

María Esther Centeno has lived there for decades. Dozens of Mexicans like her were offered an apartment in the area after a devastating quake in 1985 left many without a home.

“When they (from the trust) came to fix this place, we learned about its history,” she said. “There used to be a dining hall. On that other side were the nuns’ cells.”

Neither the homes nor other buildings underwent restoration after the 2017 quake. However, the church still hurts from the tragedy.

The trust’s architect overseeing its renovations knows the building like the back of his hand. A hidden clock, a wall shadowed by the organ and the bell tower all had cracks repaired by Jesús Martínez and his team.

“To me, this is the most important sanctuary in Mexico’s historic center after the cathedral,” Martínez said. “The choir stalls are unique because they are original — they haven’t been broken up or replaced.”

On a recent morning in late January, María Lourdes Flota entered Santo Domingo by chance.

She traveled from the state of Yucatán in southern Mexico to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. While walking across downtown, the church caught her eye.

“This is my first time here and we decided to come in,” she said. “It’s so beautiful. I love all the images it preserves.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

A man walks out of the archway of a cloister that was part of Santo Domingo church, now a residential housing complex in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

Maria Lourdes Flora, from Yucatan state, visits Santo Domingo church in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

The main altarpiece, designed by artist Manuel Tolsa, stands in La Profesa church in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

Architect Jesus Martínez, left, and art historian Alejandro Hernandez stand inside the restored choir area of Santo Domingo church in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

The interior of the Santo Domingo temple in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

People look at the restored art gallery at La Profesa church in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

Santo Domingo church stands in Mexico City, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

GOMA, Congo (AP) — At least 200 people were killed earlier this week when a landslide collapsed several mines at a major coltan mining site in eastern Congo, rebel authorities said Saturday.

The collapse took place Wednesday at the Rubaya mines, which are controlled by the M23 rebels, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, the spokesperson of the rebel-appointed governor of North-Kivu province told The Associated Press. He said the landslide was caused by heavy rains.

“For now, there are more than 200 dead, some of whom are still in the mud and have not yet been recovered,” Muyisa said. He added that several others were injured and taken to three health facilities in the town of Rubaya, while ambulances were expected to transfer the wounded Saturday to Goma, the nearest city around 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.

The rebel-appointed governor of North Kivu has temporarily halted artisanal mining on the site and ordered the relocation of residents who had built shelters near the mine, Muyisa said.

Rubaya lies in the heart of eastern Congo, a mineral-rich part of the Central African nation which for decades has been ripped apart by violence from government forces and different armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23, whose recent resurgence has escalated the conflict, worsening an already acute humanitarian crisis.

Over 15% of the world’s supply of tantalum, a rare metal extracted from coltan that is a key component in the production of smartphones, computers and aircraft engines, comes from the Rubaya region.

In May 2024, M23 seized the town and took control of it mines. According to a U.N. report, since seizing Rubaya, the rebels have imposed taxes on the trade and transport of coltan, generating at least $800,000 a month.

Eastern Congo has been in and out of crisis for decades. Various conflicts have created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year.

Despite the signing of a deal between the Congolese and Rwandan governments brokered by the U.S. and ongoing negotiations between rebels and Congo, fighting continues on several fronts in eastern Congo, continuing to claim numerous civilian and military casualties.

The deal between Congo and Rwanda also opens up access to critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies.

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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.

FILE - Miners work at the D4 Gakombe coltan mining quarry in Rubaya, Congo, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)