 By the 18th century, the church of the monastery began to function as the parish church of the city and in the late 19th century, it was elevated to the rank of a cathedral.Unlike many cathedrals in Mexico, this one does not face the city's main square, but rather is located just to the south, in its own walled compound, which it shares with a number of other structures.Unlike the other monastery structures from its time, the importance of this church provoked a number of renovation projects, the last of which occurred in 1957.