Religious Architecture
In early American cultures there where many similarities and differences of the religious architecture. The architecture of many of the churches had similar facades, but each had their own unique qualities. Some of the churches were made with similar material such as adobe, while others were made with material such as stone. Most of the churches were built with columns. The churches in the early American cultures represented the wealth of the political and religious beliefs.
The Aztecs had the Augustinian monastery at Epazpoyucan, which had an outside chapel and courtyard. The façade of the church was simple. It had rectangle and triangle windows, and classical elements such as, columns and arches. The church practiced Christianity.
The San Estevan at Acoma Pueblo is made of adobe. It had two towers and looked as if it was growing out of the ground. It had square windows and a very plain façade. After a hundred years, the Pueblos still refused to give up their traditional ceremonies and were the most resistant to Christianity.
The San Francisco de la Espada Mission in Texas was made of stone. One of the biggest differences from the New Mexican churches and the Texan churches was the facades. The combination of rectangles and arches, and the screens for the bells made the Texan churches more of a complex façade.
The San Xavier del Bac in Arizona was part of the Indian settlement. It was the most impressive church of this era. It was made of fired bricks that were covered with lime wash. The church had high altars that were carved and painted with figures. The church had two towers, and between the two towers were monograms of Jesus and Mary. The windows were rounded arches and there were flying buttresses on the bell towers. The church was magnificent.
Though the architecture in the early American cultures had many similarities, each was different in their own unique way. The pictures of the churches in...