The houses located in front of the Jesuit temple and college had fallen into ruin. Doña Isabel Rosa Catarina Ceballos Villegas, Countess of San Mateo, exchanged one of her own properties in order to donate the land to the Jesuits. After the Jesuits were expelled from New Spain in 1767, the Dominicans took over the complex, and the area became a public square named Plaza de Santo Domingo in reference to their presence.