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When Tenochtitlán was destroyed, Cortés sent a letter to the king in which he asked for, among other things, a corps of priests to Christianize the country. These arrived in 1524, along with the first Audiencia, later removed for corruption - and because the conquistadors felt their rights were being infringed by the imposition of royal order.

The first archbishop, Juan de Zumárraga, arrived in 1531, and was confronted with all the colony's exploitation and abuse of the Indians. It was then that a Mexica noble, Juan Diego, had a vision of the Virgin Mary atop a mountain formerly sacred to the Mexica mother-goddess, Tonantzin.

When the bishop demanded proof, Juan Diego returned to the Virgin (whom only he could see), who told him to go gather roses on the hillside, although it was neither the time nor the place for roses. He bore the roses back to the bishop in his tunic, and when he dropped them on the ground, he was surprised to see the bishop and retainers kneeling before him - a picture of the Virgin, complete with apocalyptic imagery (sun, crescent moon, and star), was painted on his clothes. This tunic is enshrined in the basílica de Guadalupe.

Story taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia.

On the way to the shrine: posters defending the mayor López Obrador (of the leftist PRD) from a recent corruption scandal.	The old basilica.	The new basilica, built for the Pope, who visited in 1979.	This woman is approaching the shrine on her knees, hoping for a miracle.
The exterior of the old basilica.	Detail of the facade.	Inside the old basilica.	A statue of Juan Diego in the old basilica.
One of the old basilica's side chapels.	The ceiling of the old basilica.	On the front of the new basilica: "Am I not here, I who am your mother?"	The inside of the basilica. It gets bad press on account of an alleged "train station" ambience, but I was impressed.
	The very tunic.	Sculpture of Juan Diego in the new basilica.

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