Among all the churches in Oaxaca City, perhaps the San Juan de Dios does not have the grace to be the “spiritual heart” or the “crown jewel” and even less the enclosure more ecclesiastical hierarchy. Rather we will say that it is modest architecturally, however, historically it is the oldest Catholic church in Oaxaca.
Partly to remodeling the temples and partly for the successive earthquakes that hit the Valley of Oaxaca, most of the original buildings no longer exist. The result is what we see today, a mix of different styles. That is why we highly recommend a visit of this small temple, it is truly part of the early history Oaxaca.
The church was destroyed by the earthquake of 1662 and was left untouched. However, in 1698 the Hospitaller Order of San Juan de Dios arrived in Oaxaca, which was dedicated to caring for the sick. It was then that they were assigned the ruins of the building, where they built a new church and a convent in 1700. On this site a hospital was built and an orchard was created.
Again misfortune fell on the building when a fire left it in ruins, until in 1886 it was rebuilt. Currently only the temple remains and in what was the former convent and the orchard, the Mercado 20 de Noviembre was built.
