El Carmen Iglesia, San Jose

El Carmen Church is an important historical landmark located in the city of San Jose. It was constructed in 1874, following the plans of Mexican architect engineer Ángel Miguel Velázquez Vidaurre, as a replacement for a previous, primitive temple that had been built with adobe walls and tile roofs. The new temple was built using the calicanto technique (stones with glue-based mortar of lime and sand,) and brick masonry was used in the construction of the main façade.

The current temple has a rectangular floor plan without columns that divide the floor into a central nave and a side nave. Its internal roof is a continuous vault lined with stamped metal sheets. Although it has undergone some modifications over the years, the temple still maintains its Neoclassical style with its sober and monumental appearance.

The temple's stylistic influences are a mix of Neoclassicism and American Colonial Baroque. Its spatial message is defined by the paradigms and ideals of the classical orders and historicism, which convey solemnity and grandeur. The temple's original tower for the bell tower, built with brick masonry, was destroyed by the earthquake of May 1910.

The temple was declared an Architectural Historical Heritage on December 17, 1998.