Centro Historico

Welcome to the Centro Histórico of Mexico City, a place where the layers of human history are stacked with a density rarely seen elsewhere in the world. You are standing in what was once the center of Tenochtitlán, the…

We begin at the ruins of the Templo Mayor, the sacred heart of the Aztec universe. For centuries, its location was lost to history, hidden beneath colonial buildings, until it was rediscovered in 1978 by electrical workers. …

Turning toward the northern edge of the Zócalo, we face the Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los Cielos. This is the largest cathedral in the Americas, and its construction spanned an…

Occupying the entire eastern side of the Zócalo is the Palacio Nacional, the seat of the federal executive branch of the Mexican government. This site has been a center of power since Aztec times, as it was originally built over…

Walking west from the Zócalo along Avenue Cinco de Mayo, we reach the Palacio de Bellas Artes, perhaps the most beautiful building in Mexico City. Completed in 1934 after a long delay caused by the Mexican Revolution, the palace…

Just across from the Bellas Artes stands the Palacio Postal, or the Quinta Casa de Correos. Opened in 1907 during the 'Porfiriato'—the long presidency of Porfirio Díaz—this building was designed to reflect Mexico's entry into the…

Continuing along Madero Street, we find the Casa de los Azulejos, an 18th-century palace famous for its facade covered in blue and white tiles from Puebla. Originally the home of the Counts of the Valley of Orizaba, the tiles…

As our tour of the Centro Histórico concludes, we find ourselves back in the sprawling embrace of the Zócalo. We have walked over the ruins of the Aztec empire at the Templo Mayor, marveled at the 240-year evolution of the…