*Location:

   Catedral de San Marcos
   (Saint Mark's Cathedral)
   Plaza San Marcos  (Civic Square)
   Av. Central Ote. (Highway 190)
     at Calle Central-Sur
   Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico
   LL: N 16.75331, W 93.11577

Site locator map

*Contact:

   Catedral San Marcos
   Calle Central Sur
   29000 Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas
   T: 961 612 0939

*Schedule:

   Hourly automatic accompaniment to
   mechanical procession of 12 Apostles,
   driven by a German-made clock.

*Remarks:

   Carillon in clock tower; also five
   older bells in bellcote-like openings in
   the upper facade; two might swing
   flywheel-style.
   Report of traditional action appears
   to be erroneous.

*Technical data:

   Electric-automatic carillon of 48 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is unknown
   Transposition is not applicable
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   The arrangement of tones and semitones is unknown.
   The whole instrument was installed in 1981
     with bells made by Petit & Fritsen
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 1992

On the Website of the Archdiocese is a very large photo of the building, centered on the tower.  From the disposition of the smaller bells in individual openings on all four sides of the tower, it seems unlikely that there could be a traditional mechanical action.

The English Wikipedia article about the cathedral is brief, but does mention the carillon and other bells, and has a large photo of the facade.  The associated Wikimedia Commons category has many more photos of the building, from which it can be discovered that the 36 smallest bells are hung in individual openings on the four sides of the tower, while the 12 largest are hung in a conventional frame on the floor of the belfry.  The corresponding Spanish Wikipedia article has a longer history, but less description of the bells.

A YouTube video (4:17) starts with the hour strike on E-flat, followed by a repeated hour strike on D-flat, then a familiar Catholic hymn (4 stanzas) for the parade of apostles.

About halfway down a large tour page about the state of Chiapas, there is a small section about Tuxtla Gutierrez, with a photo of San Marcos Cathedral and its large bell tower.

Tourist photo of the cathedral and bell tower

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in Mexico.

   This page was built from the database on 21-Sep-23
   based on textual data last updated on 2023/09/21
   and on technical data last updated on 2023/09/21