Mexico City: the capital of churches, cultures and more (Mexico II)

Hello archi lovers!

We return to visit cities full of historical architecture and beauty from another time, now further away, in a special and ancestral country, where different styles, designs and stories have coexisted until the present, a deep cultural wealth that we can only find by exploring the centers urban areas of cities such as Mexico City (CDMX) or (Ciudad de México).

Yes, we are in Mexico again, this time in the immense capital of the country, Mexico City is a very horizontal city of great distances but also of great monuments. We realize this as soon as we arrive at its historic center, its famous square: Zócalo, where the baroque colonial past is combined with another previous native past as if everything had been there just like that.

The only problem is that again the day turned out gray, very gray and dark, the camera did not help when in addition the walls of the relevant buildings were also made of dark stone, so I beg your pardon because obviously without bright sunlight, they haven't been my best photos, sorry, but there is so much to see and share.

So we begin the route through a World Heritage square, the famous Zócalo or Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square), a large space where many people gather, it is the heart of the city, and we can see unique sights if we are lucky.

In that square we also find much more to see, the Cathedral, where the amount of gold with which the apse has been decorated stands out and shines, so much wealth and beauty. Also the National Palace, or the elegant Palace of Fine Arts, allegorical statues of Beethoven, etc... at one point it seems as if we have returned to some European city, right?

And also around beautiful colonial facades, with tiles and profuse ornaments. A succession of more and more architectures, so many churches that I cannot mention them all, nor remember their names, but just the most important.

It is the great Basilica of Guadalupe that receives so many faithful with an impressive combination of the classic and the modern within many of its details.

But there are more surprises right there, on one side appears its spectacular Templo del Pocito (Temple of the Little Well). Then outside there is more... a kind of religious decoration, like a Christmas nativity scene in the middle of August, among the waters, and that everyone wanted to visit with excitement.

It is a pleasure for the eyes to be able to walk from one church, parish, basilica or cathedral to others on a mystical and cultural journey that takes us to other different eras at the same moment. There are more ancients periods alive in the city, also below, well, in the open air already excavated in a side part of the square, we are surprised by the ruins of an Aztec temple, and everything recovered can be visited in another tour that evokes another change. temporal and cultural. But since there is already a lot of material, we leave this for another time, in another post (this one would be very long and is a summary).

We continue seeing domes, towers and more churches, even going further to discover another relevant place, another emblematic square called La Plaza de las Tres Culturas or (the Square of the Three Cultures) where the three eras and cultures of Mexico converge: the pre-Columbian, the Spanish and the current one. All of this represented by more archaeological remains on that green lawn, the baroque church and an ancient cloister or school and more modern buildings around. And some modern design statue too.

For now we finish with something that draws powerful attention, a large sculptural element that reminds us of other famous Mexican pyramids (which we will also visit) called Monumento a la Raza (Monument to the Race), more information in Wikipedia.

A declaration of intentions and perhaps of vindication or of knowing how to maintain the past and heritage, while at the same time knowing how to combine all that deep legacy with the later one in an eclectic, beautiful, cultural, historical and fascinating urban space in the historic center of Mexico city. ¡Viva Mexico!

Ciudad de México, Mexico ❤️ America

Thanks so much for reading! Have an amazing and nice day.

For more about Mexico:

• Tepoztlan: the mountain of the gods (Mexico I)

The text is totally mine and the photos too, by ©Duvinca

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