A Look at a City Neighborhood

 The third exhibit at the Museo Kaluz was not an art exhibit, but a look at a Mexico City neighborhood... "colonia" Guerrero, which is highlighted on this aerial map of the city

The museum itself is actually located on the southern edge of Colonia Guerrero, just across the street from the Alameda Park.  Although Guerrero is just steps away from some of the city's major tourist attractions, the neighborhood is a working class district with a fair share of poverty and crime.

The exhibit tells the story of Guerrero through artifacts and photographs.

Before the Spanish conquest it was known as Cuepopan and it was part of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

This sculpture of an Aztec deity was discovered under the streets of Guerrero in 2019.

After the Spanish conquest, the area was on the fringes of colonial city, and it was one of the marginal neighborhoods reserved for the indigenous population.  The Franciscans established a church in the center of Cuepopan in 1524.  A later church, Santa María la Redonda, was built on its site and still stands a few blocks away from the museum.

This baptismal registry from the church dates from 1620.

Guillermo Kahlo, the father of Frida, was a photographer.  He opened a studio in Guerrero around 1920.

He took this photo of buildings under construction in Guerrero.

Much of the "colonia" however consisted of tenement buildings, some of which still exist today.

A Guerrero tenement with the new Latin American Tower in the background.

1957

The neighborhood was forever changed when the Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City's most famous boulevard, was extended northward.  It sliced diagonally through Guerrero.  Homes and businesses were demolished, and the "colonia" was split in two.  The project was completed in 1964.

A photo mural shows Reforma cutting through the neighborhood shortly after its completion.

The building in the bottom right corner is where the museum is today.

At that time it was a hotel... Hotel Cortés.

The tragic earthquake of 1985 was devastating to Guerrero.

In the background to the left, the Latin American Tower, which was specially engineered to withstand earthquakes, stands unscathed.

The inadequate response of the government to the disaster led to the residents forming brigades to clear away the rubble.

It was a day of interesting exhibits at the Museo Kaluz.