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TARJETA POSTAL. Fotografía estereoscópica. En el lado izquierdo se observa la inscripción: "Keystone View Company Manufacturers COPYRIGHTED made in U.S.A. Publishers." Del lado derecho se aprecia: "Meadville, Pa. New York N.Y. Portland Oregon, London, Eng. Sydney, Aust." Al pie de la imagen se lee: "16136-Cathedral of Cuernavaca, México". Al reverso: "16136 17 CATHEDRAL OF CUERNAVACA. Cuernavaca is in the southwestern part of México. It is the capital of the state of Morelos, which covers an area of 2,773 square miles, and has a population of about two hundred thousand. Cuernavaca, itself, has a population of about ten thousand. It is a town with a long history. In the fourteenth century, when it was called Quauhnahuac, it was famed for its goldsmiths and other craftsmen. Cortes built a villa for himself in the pleasant town, which is today one of the most picturesque places in Mexico. When a royal grant was made to Cortes in 1529 he asked that the town be include. Maximilian had a villa there. As the town is only forty-seven miles from the city of Mexico, on the Mexican Central Railway, many of the public men of Mexico, who are natives of the lowland, prefer to live there rather than in the capital. Today the palace of Cortes is the meeting place of the legislature, and various public offices are also in the building. Cuernavaca is an excellent site for a cathedral. Our picture shows us that cathedrals differ little the world over. Mexico was conquered by Spain in 1520. The first Franciscan mission came to Mexico in 1524, and since then Catholic church has become very strong in Mexico. The Catholic missionaries did mucho to introduce European civilization among the natives. In Mexico as in other places where they were working with an untutored native population, the made it a practice to build handosme buildings for the church, knowing that fine buildings would impress the natives with a sense of the power of the church. Copyright by the Keystone View Company". Catedral de Cuernavaca o Ex-convento de la Asunción. Se encuentra ubicada en la esquina formada por la avenida Morelos y la calle de Hidalgo. El convento de esta localidad, quinta fundación franciscana en México, fue establecido en 1525. Los trabajos de construcción del conjunto monástico se iniciaron en el siglo XVI en terrenos donados por Juana de Zúñiga de Cortés. Kubler considera que es probable que el convento haya sido utilizado como un lugar de retiro para los miembros más antiguos de la orden.La iglesia ha sido muy renovada, de esta primera etapa constructiva sólo sobreviven el casco de la iglesia y las arcadas de la planta baja del convento, cuyo diseño, es atribuido al arquitecto Francisco Becerra. La torre, adosada a la iglesia en su ángulo sureste, lleva grabada esta misma fecha de construcción. La erección de torre y cúpula rompieron con la integración estilística y la austeridad que caracterizaban al conjunto en el siglo anterior. Al pie de la torre se instaló un reloj. Véase: Catedral de Cuernavaca, www.morelosturistico.com, (última consulta 21 de julio de 2009).