Santo Domingo church dates from the late 16th century, but the Rosary Chapel was added later; it was built between 1650 and 1690. This is the first chapel in Mexico dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, to whom the Dominicans had great devotion. Tradition says that the Virgin Mary gave the rosary to Saint Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order. Dominican friar Juan de Cuenca conceived the Rosary Chapel as a way of showing the Dominican order's devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary, but also as a didactic tool in the evangelization process.