Paintings Along the "Magical Path"

For many years, Mexico City has been famous for its street art.  Anyone seeking these mural paintings should come to the neighborhood of San Juan Tlihuaca where it seems that every street offers a concentration of art.  Judging from the dates on some of the paintings, it seems that some have been in existence for a while, and others are recent additions that were made for Tlihuaca's designation as a "magical path".

Given the fact that the Tlihuaca has been in existence for more than 1200 years, it is appropriate that many of the murals have a pre-Hispanic theme.

The caption says, "There exist few weapons in the world as powerful as a girl with a book in her hand."

"Walking the long path that leads to the world of others... transforming one's being in each step"

The axolotl, the endangered salamander-like aquatic creature which is native to the Valley of Mexico is a popular theme.

Even the neighborhood ice cream shop has embraced street art.

Mexico's national emblem, the Eagle and the Serpent

The wall of the neighborhood cemetery serves as a canvas for more street art.

"Memory, tradition and life"

I'm sure I could have found many more examples if I had walked up and down each street in San Juan Tlihuaca.  However, after a couple of hours my feet were getting tired, and clouds were rolling in.  I needed to get back to the subway and head back to my apartment.

More from the "Magical Path"

My walk through the neighborhood of San Juan Tlihuaca led me down a narrow street with this pretty building on a corner.

The tile plaque on the building showed the pre-Hispanic glyph for Tlihuaca, which was originally called Tlilhuacan.  The name, as I mentioned in the previous post, the black place or the place of sorcerers.  The community is much older than the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan; it was established in the year 750.

Notice the medallion of an ant below the plaque.  I had noticed a lot of imagery of ants in the artwork here.  San Juan Tlihuaca is a part of the borough of Azcapotzalco, which in the Aztec language means "the place of the anthills".

Just around the corner is the gate leading into the atrium of the parish church of St. John the Baptist.  

Unfortunately, the church was closed at the time.  The original parish church was built in the 1500s, but the existing structure dates from the 1600s.

The tiled dome of the church

The carved wooden doors 

As I left the church atrium through another gate onto another street, there was a large mural painting of pre-Hispanic inspiration on a wall.  (Notice how the utility poles have been painted to blend into the picture.)

The painting shows Aztecs worshiping the image of the mother goddess Coatlicue (the blue statue at the far end of the mural).  In the background are the two snow-covered volcanoes, Iztaccíhuatl and Popocátepetl.

It looks as if a human sacrifice is being absorbed into the stone idol.

As I looked down the street with its painted decorations and murals, I could tell that there was still more to see in this magical neighborhood...

 

A Magical Path

I have written numerous times about the "Pueblos Mágicos", towns that the Mexican tourist department has designated as "magical" because of their history, culture or beauty.  Then the government of Mexico City began naming parts of the city as "Barrios Mágicos"... magical neighborhoods.  In January of this year, the mayor of Mexico City announced the first "Camino Mágico"... magical path... in the "colonia" of San Juan Tlihuaca.  This neighborhood dates back to pre-Hispanic times when it was a settlement of the Tepaneca tribe on the shore of Lake Texcoco.  It came under the control of the Aztecs as they expanded their dominion throughout the valley and beyond.  The name Tlihuaca comes from the Aztec language of Nahuatl and means "where it is black", a reference to the town's notoriety as a place of witchcraft and black magic.

As part of the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the founding of Mexico City, the government is planning on highlighting and revitalizing some of the oldest and most traditional neighborhoods.  In the case of San Juan Tlihuaca, the government painted the walls of 750 buildings and decorated them with 4900 plaster medallions of pre-Hispanic symbols.  170 murals were also painted throughout the neighborhood.

I first learned of this "magical path" from a frequent contributor on the Mexico City forum of Trip Advisor.  I decided to check it out, and figured out the best way to get there.  I took the subway to the Aquiles Serdán station, and from there I walked more than a half dozen blocks through a nondescript, working class neighborhood.  I knew that I had reached San Juan Tlihuaca when I looked across the street and saw a brightly painted and decorated house.

I continued deeper into this colorful neighborhood.

Some of the medallions decorating the walls...

A few houses, perhaps the homes of devoutly Catholic families, had crosses instead of pre-Hispanic symbols.

Some of the paintings on the walls...

Frankly, I don´t know why they talk about a "magical path".  There are no signs designating the route, and in the more than two hours that I wandered around, every street seemed to have its share of houses that were decorated and painted.  In fact this painting  refers to San Juan Tlihuaca as a "magical town" rather than a "magical path".

"Yolotl Anahuac"

The Heart of Anahuac

(the Aztec name for the Valley of Mexico)

700 Years of the Great Tenochtitlan

According to tradition, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325.

Tenochtitlan today is Mexico City,

making it the oldest national capital in the Americas.

More to come from San Juan Tlihuaca...