HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Date of construction of the church: 1558, built as a retreat for Dominican friars in Oaxaca; choir loft, soto coro, and facade added around 1730
Date of construction of the organ: ca. 1725-1730
Builder: unknown
Interventions: 1735- a rank of right hand 8´ horizontal trumpets was installed on the facade, the tambor (drum) stop was removed, and an 8´ metal stopped Bardón rank was placed on the rear-most toeboard. A stop action was installed, replacing the old system of manipulating the slider-ends at the sides of the organ. The bellows, formerly behind the organ, were relocated to the right side. 1867- maintenance/repair by José Ignacio Sánchez and 1890 (not named). 1990-1991- the organ was restored by Susan Tattershall and the case by Mireya Olvera; the project was financed by the Pichiquequiti Foundation.
Inscriptions: the largest pipe of the bardón has a cross and the date 1735, as well as a reference to the 1867 intervention. All ranks are numbered from 1 to 45.
Type: stationery four foot organ

* Breaking register

Keyboard: made of bone and wood in the nineteenth century, restored in 1991.
Compass: 45 notes C1- c’’’ with a short octave
Key action: suspended without rollerboard
Stop action: probably from 1735. Mortises in the sides of the case demonstrate that originally slider ends protruded from the case as the only stop action. When the organ was moved up to the choir loft in 1735, these were replaced by draw knobs on either side of the manual. The pajaritos stop is still operated by the original slider end on the right side of the case. Registers divided middle c/c#.
Labels: new, made in 1991
Windchest: predates the additions of 1735; pallets numbered
Measurements of the windchest: 1 m long x 0.58 m wide x 0.1 m high
Disposition of the pipes: chromatic
Vertical channelboards: 2- left hand of flautado mayor and clarines
Offset chests: none
Bellows: 2 cuneiform bellows, covers original, new ribs added in 1991; new blower; bellows may be hand-pumped
Location of the bellows: to the right side of the organ
Wind trunks: original (16.6x10 and 14x9.7 cm. exterior)
Wind pressure: 84 mm., original stone weights
Pitch and temperament: a=392, 1/4 comma meantone
Case finish: polychromed and gilded
Pipe finish: polychromed
Measurements of the case: 3.68 m high x 2.03 m wide x 0.87 m deep
Location in the church: in a choir loft on the Epistle (right, south) side of the main altar
State of conservation: very good, though mice are hard to control