1. Home
  2. Travel
  3. Student Travel

Vade Retro

Images of Ptzcuaro

From Kathleen Crislip, About.com

Translation below the photo...
Vade Retroc Kathleen Crislip, All Rights Reserved
Vade Retro
A reader translated the words above this Patzcuaro gate as being part of an exorcism:

    Crux sancta sit mihi lux
    Non draco sit mihi dux Vade retro satana
    Nunquam suade mihi vana Sunt mala quae libas
    Ipse venena bibas

And the reader provided an approximate translation:

    "May the Holy Cross be my light
    Let not the dragon lead me Step back Satan
    Never tempt me with vain things What you offer me is evil
    Drink the poison yourself."
The gate leads into a Patzcuaro school which was carved out of an old church complex above Patzcuaro's main zocalo.
  1. Home
  2. Travel
  3. Student Travel

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.