South Down "Revolución"

You may remember a post that I wrote last month in which I described a long walk that I took down Revolución Avenue.  After walking for an hour, I reached a subway stop called Barranca del Muerto.  Although I had never traveled on the Metro to that stop, I knew the name because it is the end of the line for a route that I sometimes take.

Thursday is my cleaning lady's day to clean the apartment, so I needed to get out of there.  I had several hours to kill, so I decided to jump on the subway, go to Barranca del Muerto, and take up where I had left off on my walk down Revolución.  Once again, I gave myself one hour.  In that hour, would I have time to pass through the historic district of San Angel and make it all the way to the avenue's end by the stadium of the National University?

The Barranca del Muerto subway station had some interesting decorations.  The ceilings and walls as I ascended by escalator were painted with designs reminiscent of the embroidery work of the Otomí tribe.

 

By the exit there were mosaics and stone sculptures that were clearly inspired by pre-HIspanic art.

I emerged from the subway station onto busy Revolución Avenue near another high-rise building under construction.

Just beyond the subway station was the shopping mall "Portal San Angel" which was as far as I had walked on my previous hike.

I was now in territory that was new to me.  In spite of the name of the shopping mall, I was not yet in San Angel, but in a neighborhood called Guadalupe Inn.  This area was developed in the 1950s on land which used to be the Hacienda de Guadalupe.

High-rise apartment buildings

Across the street I see a restaurant called "La Bella Lulá", a place which serves Oaxacan food.  It might be a good place to stop and eat on my way back.

There were lots of campaign posters for Santiago Taboada, candidate for chief of the city government.  They outnumbered those of his opponent (and likely winner) Clara Brugada.

Obviously there are some people in the neighborhood who don't like Clara Brugada, since quite a few of her posters had been torn down.

I passed a cultural center where plays and concerts are presented.  It's called the "Centro Cultural Helénico".  

From the name (Hellenic is an adjective for Greek) I would think that it is somehow associated with the Greek community in Mexico City.  After doing some research I finally found out that it was founded in 1973 by a Greek Orthodox bishop and professor of classical Greek at the National University of Mexico.  However, the programs advertised did not have anything to do with Greek culture.  One play being presented that weekend was called "Cyrano Unleashed", an adaptation it would seem of the classic French play "Cyrano de Bergerac".

On a side street by the cultural center, I saw this building which looked very old.

It is indeed much older than I imagined.  Between Google Maps and Wikipedia, I was able to learn that the structure consists of a 14th century Gothic chapel and a 12th century Romanesque cloister that were part of a monastery in Avila, Spain.  The building was purchased by William Randolph Hearst, disassembled, boxed and shipped to New York.  The stones were never removed from their boxes.  They were acquired in 1952 by a Mexican businessman, and the building was reassembled in Mexico City.  It is one of only two medieval Spanish structures in the Americas.  (The other one, part of a monastery from Segovia which was also purchased by Hearst, is in Miami, Florida.)

The chapel and cloister were donated to the "Centro Cultural Helénico" in 1973.  Concerts, plays, workshops and conferences are held here now.  I will have to inquire whether or not it is open to the general public since I would love to see the interior.

A few blocks down the street I reached the Carrillo Gil Art Museum.

The museum houses the art collection of Alvar Carrillo Gil, and hosts special exhibits of contemporary art.  I have never been to the museum, but I suppose that someday I will visit, even though contemporary art is not my cup of tea.

At this point I looked at the street sign and realized that I was now in San Angel.

San Angel was a rural town to the south of Mexico City until it was absorbed by the growing metropolis in the 20th century.  It is one of the city's most picturesque neighborhoods, although you would not know it from busy, commercialized Revolución Avenue.

I have been to San Angel a number of times, and it was only a couple of blocks before I was in familiar territory.  I soon reached the colorful San Angel Flower Market.

A mural on the wall of the flower market

I think that the famous painter Diego Rivera is portrayed in the center drinking "pulque" (notice the paint brushes in his pocket) and above him is his wife Frida Kahlo.  The couple owned a home in San Angel.

Continuing down the avenue I came to the gate of one of the most important colonial buildings of San Angel, the church and convent of El Carmen.

The church and convent were built between 1615 and 1625.  The convent is now a museum which I have visited a couple of times.

I entered the atrium of the church, a respite from the noise and traffic along the avenue.

Bougainvillea and a jacaranda blooming in the atrium

The tiled domes of the church

The interior of the church with its baroque altarpiece

I could have deviated from my route at this point and wandered the cobblestone streets of the center of San Angel.  However, my goal had been to see if I could reach the end of Revolución Avenue in the time I had allotted.  I had been walking for nearly an hour, so I forged on.  I was still in San Angel, but definitely not in its colonial heart.

Just as I had reached the one-hour mark of my hike, I came to the avenue's end.  In front of me was the Olympic University Stadium... built for the Summer Olympics of 1968 and now the home of the National University's soccer team, the Pumas.

I had achieved my goal, and now it was time to head back.