In the "Centro Histórico"

Yesterday I spent several hours in the "Centro Histórico" of Mexico City, the colonial heart of the city.  It is the largest historical center in the Americas.  Not all of it is pretty, but it is never boring.

I took the subway to the Pino Suárez station.  Avenida Pino Suárez is not a beautiful street; it's a busy avenue lined mostly with clothing and shoe stores.

  

However there are numerous buildings which date from colonial times.  The first one you see as you leave the subway station is the Church of St. Michael the Archangel.  It is the second oldest parish in the city, and the present building was built in 1690.

A short distance down the street is this inscription (which needs to be refurbished). It commemorates the spot where in 1519 the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés (we know him as Cortez) first met the Aztec emperor Moctezuma (we know him as Montezuma).

Around the corner is the Church of Jesus the Nazarene which was part of a hospital which was founded by Hernán Cortés. It was the first hospital in the New World.  Behind the church, the Hospital de Jesús Nazareno is still in operation, although in a newer building.  Unfortunately, the church was closed.  Supposedly Hernán Cortés is buried within, and I was hoping to find his tomb.

Just across the street is this colonial mansion which today houses the Museum of Mexico City. It used to have displays related to the history of the city, but now it has temporary art exhibits.

The oldest buildings in Mexico City were built from the stones of the Aztec temples and palaces.
The corner of the museum has a stone with an Aztec serpent carving.

 

 

 

Avenida Pino Suárez empties into the Zócalo, the vast public square of the city's heart.  Unfortunately, the Zócalo was not at its photogenic best.  Scaffolding covered a good part of the National Palace.  Fences hid the ruins of the Aztec pyramid.  (Apparently more archaeological excavations are underway.)  And worst of all, the entire plaza was filled with big, ugly tents that were part of an exhibition of the Mexican armed forces.  I don't know who the exhibition was for because it didn't appear to be open to the public.  Barricades cordoned off the entire plaza, and the only people within the perimeter were soldiers.

But the Cathedral of Mexico, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, still stood majestically amid all the mess.

 

When you enter the Cathedral, the first thing that you see is the gold-gilt Altar of Pardon.  Masses are held here on a daily basis.

 

At the far end of the Cathedral, the main altarpiece, the Altar of the Kings, is a magnificent example of Churriguerresque art, the ultra-baroque style which was popular in 18th century Mexico.

 

Attached to the Cathedral is the Sagrario, a separate church which serves the Cathedral's parish.  It too is an excellent example of Churriguerresque architecture.

 

The Zócalo has long been a center of protests, large and small.  In the street at one corner of the plaza was a small group of merchants from an area near the Basilica of Guadalupe.  They were protesting their eviction because of a new commercial development being built near the Basilica by Mexican multi-billionaire, Carlos Slim.  They also claimed that the archbishop of Mexico City was in on the deal.

Elsewhere on a sidewalk facing the Zócalo, a woman (dressed like the Pope) was conducting  a one person protest against abuses of the Catholic Church.  Her sign says "My problem is not with God, it's with his representatives, pederasts and mercenaries of the faith."

 

The new Pope, Francis, has received a lot of favorable press, but this lady wasn't buying it.  She calls him a hypocrite who collaborated with the military dictatorship of Argentina, who informed on Jesuit comrades who were opposed to the dictatorship (resulting in their kidnapping and torture), and who was complicit in the stealing of babies who were born to female political prisoners.  Pretty harsh words.  When he was elected Pope, I read that he had never spoken out against the atrocities of Argentina's dictatorship.

OK, moving on to something less controversial...  

No matter how many times I visit Mexico City, I always discover new things.  At one corner of the Zócalo stands the "Monte de Piedad", the government operated pawnshop.

The building is open to the public, and I decided to go inside.  I was met by a young lady who asked if I wanted a free tour of the building.  (It was truly free... she wouldn't even accept a tip at the end of the tour.)  The building stands on the site where the Aztec emperor Moctezuma had his palace.  After the Spanish conquest Hernán Cortés built his residence here.  Although the building has changed much  through the centuries, it still contains original portions of Cortés's house and even stones from Moctezuma's palace.

These doorways used to lead into the chapel where Cortés would pray daily,

The rough stonework at the top is actually part of the original wall from Moctezuma's palace.

By this time it was time for lunch.  I went to a well known restaurant in the "centro histórico" called "El Cardenal".  I had been there once before for breakfast.  Although the place gets rave reviews, I was not impressed.  However since I was so close, I decided to give it another try.  I'm glad I did because my meal was delicious.  I tried something I had never had before, "mixiote".  "Mixiote" is a traditional dish of the central Mexican countryside in which the meat (I had lamb) is cut up, prepared in a special sauce, wrapped in the leaf of a maguey plant, and baked.  (If we were out in the countryside, it would be baked underground in a pit.)  It was very tasty.  It was accompanied by guacamole, "nopales" (roasted prickly pear cactus) and tortillas that were obviously made from scratch.  "¡Delicioso!"