Ex-Templo de San Agustín

Zacatecas


The Ex-Templo de San Agustín was built for Augustinian monks in the 17th century. During the 19th-century anticlerical movement, the church became a cantina and Masonic lodge. In 1882 it was purchased by American Presbyterian missionaries who destroyed its 'too Catholic' main facade, replacing it with an utterly uninspiring blank white wall. One surviving feature is the church's plateresque carving of the conversion of St Augustine over the north doorway. It's now used as a venue for temporary exhibitions.

In the 20th century the church returned to the government.