Mexico City, Mexico — Attractions
El Zocalo
In the middle of the city's historic center is the enormous paved Plaza de la Constitucion, or Zocalo, the second largest city square in the world, and Mexico City's center of government and religion. The Presidential Palace dominates one side of the square, a magnificent colonial building that was built on the site of the former Aztec Palace, with remarkable interior murals narrating the story of Mexico's history. Dominating an adjacent side of the square is the great Metropolitan Cathedral, displaying a wealth of architectural styles and occupying the site of the once sacred grounds of the Aztec. The ornate interior contains its chief treasure, the King's Chapel and gilded altar. The Cathedral is one of the buildings subsiding into the soft ground on which the city is built and builders are continuously at work to prevent its uneven descent. The square itself is filled with activity, with vendors and buskers, informal traditional Aztec dance performances, family groups, workers on lunch break and passing tourists. It is also the place for demonstrations, government rallies and protest marches, as well as festivals and public holiday events. Every evening the presidential guards, in a show of great ceremony, lower the national flag from the central flagpole. And encircling the square is the continuous buzz of the ubiquitous green Volkswagen taxis.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
Templo Mayor
Templo Mayor (Great Temple) was the principal temple of the Aztecs, believed to mark the center of the universe. It was part of the sacred complex of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, and today it has been excavated to show the multiple layers of construction, viewed from a raised walkway with explanatory material available. The temple was first built in 1375, and enlarged several times, each rebuilding accompanied by a frenzied bloody sacrifice of captured warriors to rededicate the sacred area. At the center is a platform on which stands a sacrificial stone in front of the shrine to the tribal god, Huizilopochtli. Within the site is the excellent Museo del Templo Mayor, a museum displaying artifacts from the original site and providing an overview of Aztec civilization. The most important display is the first artifact to be discovered on the site, the great wheel-like stone carving of the Aztec goddess of the moon, Coyilxauhqui.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
- Address
- Seminario 8, Historical District
- Phone Number
- +52 55 4040 5600
- Email Address
- difusion.mntm@inah.gob.mx
- Website
- www.templomayor.inah.gob.mx (Spanish only)
- Transport
- Take metro to Zocalo. Templo Mayor is off Zocalo, to the right of the city cathedral if you face it
- Hours
- Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 5pm
- Admission
- Museum: $45 (adults), children under 13 free
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Situated at one end of the Alameda Central that was once an ancient market place and is now a large park, is the splendid white marble structure of the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts). A concert hall and an arts center, it houses some of Mexico's finest murals and the Art Deco interior is worth seeing alone. The Palacio has two museums: the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Museo de la Arquitectura. The art museum's collection includes over 6,000 paintings, sculptures and engravings from 1650 to 1954 with masterpieces by prominent Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo. One of the highlights of the Palacio is the theater's stained glass stage curtain, which is lit before performances and for public viewing. The Ballet Folklorico performs here every Wednesday and Sunday.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
- Address
- Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas and Av. Juárez
- Phone Number
- +52 55 5512 2593
- Hours
- Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm
- Admission
- ($3) Adults
Bosque de Chapultepec and the Museo Nacional de Antropologia
Bosque de Chapultepec is Mexico City's largest park, covering an enormous area containing lakes, the zoo and several museums, including the Museo Nacional de Antropología. The park attracts thousands of people, especially on weekends when families come to picnic, relax in the woods and visit the museums. The huge National Museum of Anthropology is one of the finest of its kind in the world, housing a fascinating collection of pre-Hispanic artifacts, from the first people in the Americas, to the Teotihuacana Empire, the Aztecs and the Mayans. Highlights include the famous Aztec Sun Stone or Calendar Stone found beneath the Zocalo (main square) in 1790. There are also exhibits illustrating the modern way of life in today's indigenous communities.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
- Address
- Avenida Paseo de la Reforma and calzada Ghandi, Chapultepec Park, Mexico City
- Phone Number
- +52 55 5553 6332/6266
- Website
- www.mna.inah.gob.mx
- Transport
- Nearest subway stations are Auditorio (line 1) and Chapultepec (line 7).
- Hours
- Tuesday to Sunday 9am to 7pm
- Admission
- Museum: $51 (adults), children under 13 free. Free admission on Sundays to Mexican citizens
San Angel
Formerly a separate village, San Angel is one of the more charming of Mexico's suburbs, an exclusive neighborhood with ancient mansions and colonial houses along cobbled streets. It is famed for its Saturday craft market in the pretty Plaza San Jacinto, which brings color, crowds and a festive atmosphere to the area, and has excellent art and handicrafts for sale. It is crammed with little restaurants and cafes, offering the city's best dining experiences, albeit expensive. There are several museums of interest, including the Studio Museum of Mexico's famous pair, the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
- Address
- Southwest of Mexico City
Zona Rosa
The Zona Rosa (Pink Zone) is the city's major dining, nightlife and shopping district. It is a compact area, a dense knot of streets crammed with bars, shops, boutiques, restaurants and hotels. The streets are all named for famous cities such as Londres and Hamburgo and the best activity here is to people watch from a chic sidewalk café, as the endless stream of tourists and a mixture of the city's purposeful middle classes pass by. It is where the symbol of Mexico City stands, a gilded statue of Winged Victory, the Independence Monument.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
- Transport
- Line one on the metro to Insurgentes Station
Teotihuacan
Situated 31 miles (50km) from Mexico City, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Teotihuacan is the site of Mexico's largest ancient city, constructed by a long forgotten culture, and dating from around 300 to 600 BC. It is believed that after thriving for about 2,000 years, a great fire caused the city to be abandoned and the Aztecs arrived in the region to find a forsaken city. Recognising signs of its previous magnificence they named it what it is today, Teotihuacan, 'place of the gods'. The central thoroughfare is the Avenue of the Dead, a 1.3-mile (2km) stretch lined with the palaces of the elite and connecting the three main site areas, the Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon and the Citadel. The Pyramid of the Sun is the third largest pyramid in the world, a huge red painted structure built over a cave, found to contain religious artifacts relating to sun worship. From the top of the stairs the views over the ruins are fantastic. The more graceful Pyramid of the Moon is situated at one end of the Avenue with an altar in the plaza believed to have been used for religious dancing. The Citadel at the other end of the Avenue is a large square complex that was the residence of the city's ruler. Within the walls is its main feature, the Templo de Quetzalcoatl, are some striking serpent carvings. The Tepantitla Palace holds Teotihuacan's most famous fresco, the faded 'Paradise of Tlaloc'. There is a museum housing excellent displays of the city's artifacts, models and explanatory diagrams of the site.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
- Phone Number
- +52 59 4956 0276/0052
- Transport
- A Los Pirámides'/Autobuses Teotihuacan bus departs from Gate 8 of Mexico City's Terminal del Norte every half hour
- Hours
- Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm
Guanajuato
Guanajuato is considered to be one of Mexico's colonial gems, founded around the rich silver deposits discovered by the Spanish in 1558. It is a city of history, where the cry of rebellion against the Spanish was raised and the struggle for Independence began, a history of wealthy silver barons and oppressed Indian miners. The city has an unusual layout, crammed into a narrow valley, with houses and streets forced into irregular positions due to the naturally hilly topography. Brightly painted higgledy-piggledy houses perch on the slopes, reached by narrow crooked alleyways of cobbled stone; hidden plazas, steep irregular stairways, underground tunnels and thoroughfares lend the city much of its charming character. Along with its picturesque setting and unusual beauty, Guanajuato has many historical buildings and magnificent architecture, including several churches and museums, and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The most narrow, and most visited, alley is the Callejón del Beso (Alley of the Kiss) where the balconies of the leaning houses on either side almost touch each other, a feature in the local romantic legend about furtive lovers exchanging kisses. Cultural events are an important part of the city, which hosts several festivals during the year. Every weekend the famous strolling musicians, or callejoneadas, in traditional dress, lead processions through the narrow winding alleyways, strumming, singing and telling stories to the crowds that follow.
- Region/City Name
- Mexico City
- Transport
- Bus from Mexico City (about four hours)
