World Country Guide

Mexico City

The capital of Mexico stands at an altitude of 2240m (7350ft) beneath two snow-capped volcanoes, Popocatpetl and Ixtacchuatl. It is a huge rambling city with a distinctly colonial feel. Many of the buildings are in the exuberant Latin American Baroque style. Despite its pollution and sprawling size, Mexico City – or ‘El DF’, standing for Distrito Federal (Federal District) – is a very attractive city made up of 16 delegaciones (districts) and about 400 colonias (neighbourhoods), with many green spaces and quiet back streets. Exclusive residential areas, such as Polanco and La Condesa, have their own village-like centres. The street names in each district have been given particular themes such as philosophers, European cities, rivers or writers, which lend a certain charm and atmosphere to each area, as well as helping the visitor navigate around the city.
In the centre of the Centro Histrico (Historic Centre) is the Plaza de la Constitucin, more commonly referred to as the Zcalo – the Aztec word for ‘plinth’ or ‘pedestal’ – all that was actually completed of a monument to independence planned by General Santa Ana. Construction of the square began in 1573 and was finished in the 19th century. Vast in scale, it is surpassed in size only by Red Square in Moscow. Each evening, the enormous Mexican flag that flies in the middle of the square is taken down and folded with great ceremony by the Mexican army. The Catedral Metropolitana, on the north side of the square, was begun in 1563 and exhibits a plethora of architectural styles (mainly Gothic, Baroque and Neo-Classical). The highlight of the ornate gilded interior is the Capilla de los Reyes (Kings’ Chapel) and its altar. Just east of the cathedral is the excavated site of the Aztec Templo Mayor (Great Temple), part of the sacred complex of Tenochtitln, which was demolished by the Spaniards in the 1520s. Remains of the temple layout can be viewed from raised walkways. The adjoining museum displays artefacts excavated from the site in the 1970s, including the first artefact to be discovered – a huge votive disk to the goddess of the moon, Coyolxauhqui. On the east side of the zcalo, the National Palace, built in 1692 on the ruins of the Palace of Montezuma, is now the office of the President of the Republic. Diego Rivera’s depiction of Mexican history is illustrated in a dramatic mural that adorns the stairwell leading up to the middle storey of the main courtyard. Other outstanding examples of Rivera’s work – and that of Siqueiros, Orozco and Tamayo – can be found in the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) near Alameda Central (Central Park). This beautiful arts centre and concert hall, sculptured out of white Carrara marble, was built between 1900-34 in Neo-Classical, Art-Nouveau and Art-Deco styles. The Ballet Folklrico perform here every Wednesday and Sunday with a blend of ancient Mayan and Aztecritual, dramatised episodes from Mexican history, as well as current songs and dances from all over Latin America. Another hugely popular and sentimental form of Mexican music can be heard through a late afternoon and evening visit to the Plaza Garibaldi, where ‘mariachis’ from all over Mexico, usually dressed in ornate clothes and giant sombreros, play for the public. With so many sites of architectural, religious and cultural merit, it is not surprising that the capital has museums with world-class collections. In particular, the Museo Nacional de Antropologa, in Chapultepec Park (‘Grasshopper Hill’ in the Nahuatl language), holds an enormous and absolutely fascinating collection of Pre-Hispanic artefacts within 12 halls on the first floor, including the 24-ton Aztec Sun Stone – the Calendar Stone. Ethnological exhibits on the second floor illustrate life today in Mexico’s indigenous communities. Also worth visiting in the park is the Museo Nacional de Historia, situated in the former castle of the viceroys. Other museums that contain outstanding collections include: the Museo del Carmen (colonial religious paintings and sculpture housed in a former 16th-century Carmelite monastery); Museo Franz Mayer (16th to 19th century European, Asian and Mexican fine and applied arts, displayed in a restored 16th-century hospital); Museo de Arte Moderno (a collection of some of the major works from 20th-century Mexican and Latin American artists); Museo Frida Kahlo (examples of the artist’s work, her own art collection and belongings displayed in her former home and studio); and Museo Anahuacalli (an extraordinary volcanic stone-clad house, designed by Diego Rivera to house his extensive collection of pre-Hispanic artefacts).
Just to the north of the centre are two places that offer a good insight into Mexican history and architecture, as well as its cultural and religious life today. Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco celebrates the three major cultures that have shaped Mexico: there are Aztec ruins, the 17th-century colonial church of San Diego, built in the Baroque style, and several late 20th-century buildings. Another location worth visiting is the Basilica of Nuestra Seora de Guadalupe. The shrine that is built around Tepeyac hill signifies the spot where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the Indian Juan Diego in 1531. It is also a major pilgrimage site. Each year, on 12 December, millions of devout pilgrims from all over Mexico, many shuffling forward on their knees, congregate at the Basilica to worship their patron saint. Built in 1976, it has a capacity of 10,000 inside plus another 25,000 outside when the 70 surrounding portals are opened.
The oldest university in the Americas, and one of the largest in the world, the Ciudad Universitaria (University City), located in Pedregal Square, is a remarkable architectural complex dating back to the 1950s. Among its landmark buildings is the library – a tower encased in an astonishing natural stone, glass and tile mural, which was designed by Juan O’Gorman to illustrate key chapters in Mexico’s history.
Some 20km (14 miles) south of the Zcalo are the floating gardens and tree-lined canals of Xochimilco. Engineered by the Aztecs, the gardens are now a weekend haunt of the city’s inhabitants who hire brightly painted trajineras (gondolas), often accompanied by ‘mariachis’, to cruise the canals.
Two of Mexico City’s prettiest colonial villages on the southern fringes – Coyoacn and San Angel – are best visited at the weekend, when the attractive squares and cobble-lined streets are alive with students, artists, craftspeople, musicians and other Mexicans out strolling with their families. The Bazar del Sbado (Saturday Market) in San Angel’s Plaza San Jacinto is one of the best places to buy good-quality handicrafts and artworks.