6 Day Guadalupe
Day 01 USA / MEXICO CITY. Today we depart the US for our flight to Mexico. Welcome at the international airport of Mexico City and transfer to your hotel for a four night stay. Dinner an overnight.
Day 02 PYRAMIDS OF TEOTIHUACAN & GUADALUPE SHRINE. Today begins our great pilgrimage going to the most important sanctuary of our journey: The basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe. Our day starts visiting the square of three cultures and the parish of Santiago Tlatelolco famed for being the seat of the first archbishop of Mexico and where the Indian Juan Diego took the flowers that miraculously created the image of our lady of Guadalupe, that we will visit afterwards at its basilica, on the main altar, where will take mass and communion, and our companion priest will lead a programmed mass in one of the chapels. We will also visit the first hermitage, the Indian Chapel, the holy water well chapel, the original Basilica and the Tepeyac hill, where the apparitions took place to the Indian Juan Diego, and the flowers were given to him to take to the first archbishop of Mexico. The visit will take all morning since it's the main highlight of our journey; the rest of the day will be to visit the town of Tulpetlac and its church built where Juan Diego was raised, the Acolman monastery, which is one of the first built in America in the XVI century, in order to admire its facade and its impressive structure; we will also visit the world renown Archaeological City of Teotihuacan and its incredible pyramids of the Sun and the moon. Lunch (not included) at the pyramids, return to Mexico City for dinner and overnight.
Day 03 MEXICO CITY. Mexico city tour, driving through its modern and ancient avenues, streets and squares in order to visit the national metropolitan cathedral, the national palace and the city hall, all located at the "Zocalo" or main square of the city, that is the heart of our nation; we will also take a panoramic visit to the "Templo Mayor" archaeological excavations and Guatemala street and its hundreds of religious articles stores; the church and square of Santo Domingo (Saint Dominic), the first university and the seat of the holy inquisition back to the colonial times; we will also visit the San Francisco and la Profesa churches from the XVI century and drive through Tacuba street to admire its ancient buildings, squares and monuments, the square of Santa Veracruz (Holy Cross) and its leaning churches and stop at San Hipolito (Saint Hipolite) parish church for a visit and see its famous image of San Judas Tadeo (Saint Judas Tadeous), that has converted it to be the second most important and most visited religious place in the city after the Guadalupe basilica. We will continue our journey through the modern Pink Zone or Zona Rosa and Polanco districts that are full of restaurants, bars, stores and night entertainment; go through Chapultepec park and its world renown museums (visits not included) and onto Insurgentes boulevard considered to be the longest avenue in town, going by the Siqueiros Poliforum, the Insurgentes theater to see its famous mural paintings until we reach colonial San Angel Distric for a visit to El Carmen parish church and its religious colonial arts museum and beautiful world renown colonial San Jacinto Square, The Chimalistac chapel, all from the XVI century; our journey continues to the university and its mural paintings accomplished by some of the most famous Mexican artists, The Cuicuilco archaeological zone and its rounded pyramid and then Onto Xochimilco: the Aztec floating gardens for a Prehispanic boat ride and a visit to the XVI century san Bernardino Monastery. Continue to Coyoacan through colonial and cobble stone roads to one of the most famous conquerors' residential areas and its XVI century San Juan Bautista (Saint John The Baptist)parish church and Santa Catalina (Saint Catherine) church to admire its premises and paintings. Dinner and overnight
Day 04 MEXICO CITY – PUEBLA. Today we will depart Mexico City, we head west some 80 miles towards Puebla, Mexico’s fourth largest city, passing the photogenic, snow-capped, volcanoes of Popocatepetl (Smoking Mountain, 5464m) and Iztaccihuatl (Sleeping Lady, 5230m). We will stop first at Santa Maria Tonanzintla Church, the austere exterior of the church of Tonanzintla gives no clues as to what awaits those who enter this colonial era masterpiece. Its interior is an explosion of color and gold leaf, adorned by angels displaying distinctive Cholulan Indian features. Continue to Puebla, known as the ”City of Angels” a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Set at an elevation of 7,000 feet in a wide valley between the snow-capped volcanoes, Puebla has a mild climate year-round and is an ideal place to absorb the local culture and experience life outside the metropolis of Mexico City. Laid out in the colonial style of Spain, Puebla is considered to be the cradle of Mexican cuisine, having produced some of the country's classic dishes like mole sauce and chiles en nogada. The city is also known for its vividly painted Talavera tile and colorful pottery. Here we will visit the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Santo Domingo church which houses the famous Rosary Chapel. Dinner and overnight.
Day 05 PUEBLA / TLAXCALA / MEXICO CITY. Today our pilgrimage leads us to San Miguel de los Milagros and its holy water from its well. We will visit the grotto where the Archangel Michael appeared; we will also visit the archaeological city of Cacaxtla. Our journey continues to Tlaxcala city to visit the basilica of our Lady of Ocotlan, very much venerated by Mexican people and from abroad since she appeared here and was miraculously stamped in a tree trunk. The Tlaxcala city will also be visited; return to Mexico City. Dinner and overnight.
Day 06 MEXICO CITY / USA. Transfer from hotel to airport in order to board flight back home - the end of a memorable pilgrimage.