San Francisco Parish Church, Acatepec, Puebla, Mexico, 18th century BAROQUE CATHEDRALS AND CHURCHES he king of Spain and local archbishops supervised the construction of cathedrals which served as emblems of their authority. The great cathedrals built in the 16th century are Renaissance in style, and cathedrals built in the 17th and 18th centuries are a unique Latin American expression of Baroque. With the arrival of the Baroque period, the mendicant orders had been replaced with secular orders, and new cathedrals and churches were financed by wealthy landowners and descendents of conquistadores who formed the elite of society.						5 of 7   Colonial Life