The artifacts capture the time in which they are created, managing to transmit to future generations a premonition of the past. For this reason, it is common that, in addition to common works, time capsules are created with the simple objective of bringing artifacts from the present to future generations, making them feel that these objects traveled from the past to the future.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City It is one of the places where the time capsules have had an additional value, since one of them was found in a surprising way. This happened during maintenance work on the building’s east tower, where a 15.5 x 9.2 cm lead box was found containing a scroll that read:
“In the sacrosanct name of Jesus and Mary. On May 14, 1791, the day of San Bonifacio Mártir, this holy cross made of Chiluca stone was placed in one piece at the same time as the elevation of the Glory in the high mass.”
What do the Cathedral time capsules contain?
Along with the parchment, there were also other objects: twenty-three commemorative coins, five silver coins, eleven religious medals, five engravings, a drawing, a reliquary, a piece of Agnus wax made in the Vatican and five palm crosses.
In addition to what has already been mentioned, the scroll also describes each of the pieces deposited in the time capsule, and also reports another time capsule in the west tower. According to experts, time capsules were common in New Spain, but they were placed at the beginning of the works and not at the end, as happened in the Cathedral.
As for the box, it has the name of José Damián Ortíz de Castro, architect of the two bell towers, engraved on the bottom. At the top is the name Tibursio Cano, master stonemason who finished off the cusps.
A new box with objects from 2008
Inspired by the historical finding, the ecclesiastical authorities and the federal government decided to replace the time capsule, placing a new one with objects from Mexico from July 2008.
According to the Archdiocese of Mexico, the new box contains an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, thirty-one silver coins engraved with the then 31 states of the Republic, a coin engraved with the National Shield and a copy of the Flag of Mexico.
Testimonials from important figures in Mexican politics, culture and science were also included. Among the documents are texts by Mario Molina, Nobel Prize winner, and the astronomer Julieta Fierro; the historian Miguel León-Portilla and the writer Carlos Fuentes. Similarly, the uniforms worn by the Mexican team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics were included.
Other contained objects are:
- Greetings in all the indigenous languages of Mexico.
- Selected works of Octavio Paz.
- Montreal Protocol
- The film Los Olvidados by Luis Buñuel.
- An exemplary Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.
- An interpretation by Carmen Parra of the engravings found in the 1791 time capsule.
The box was vacuum sealed with insulating materials and measures 22 centimeters wide, 32 long and 25 high and the national coat of arms is engraved on the top lid. The box will open in 2058.
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Rodrigo Osegueda Philosopher by training. Contemplate the soul and imagination of Mexico.