Downtown

On Wednesday I took a trip downtown.  I noticed that there was a heavy police presence, and as I approched the Zócalo, Mexico City's main plaza, I saw that all the streets leading into the plaza were blocked with metal barricades.

It wasn't until later that it dawned on me that the extra security was due to the fact that President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau were meeting with the Mexican President in the National Palace.

I didn't have any particular agenda for my trip downtown.  I stopped at the cafe "Parroquia de Veracruz" which is just a block north of the Zócalo.

The food there is nothing special, but I enjoy their "café lechero" which is similar to the French "café au lait".  The waiter brings a glass with a small amount of strong coffee and then pours steamed milk into the glass.  If you want another one, you tap your spoon on the glass.  

I remember many years ago going to the original "Parroquia de Veracruz", which is located, obviously, in the port city of Veracruz.  The tinkling of spoons against glasses echoed throughout the cavernous old restaurant. 

I was seated right at the front of the cafe, and I relaxed over a couple of coffees watching the passersby on the street.

After leaving the cafe, I went a couple blocks north to the historic Plaza de Santo Domingo.

On the plaza's north side, the Church of Santo Domingo was in colonial times the headquarters of the Dominican Order in Mexico.  The present church, built between 1717 and 1736, is the third Dominican church to have stood on this site.  It is all that is left of what was once one of the oldest and largest monasteries in the city.

The door was open (which is not always the case), so I went inside.  I have probably already posted pictures of this church in the past, but here are some photos of the interior.

The main altar is in neoclassical style and was designed by the Spanish-born architect and sculptor Manuel Tolsá.  Tolsá changed the face of Mexico City in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with buildings in the neoclassical style.

The Nativity scene was still next to the main altar.

The side altars are all older and done in the churrigueresque, or ultra-baroque, style that was popular in 18th century Mexico.

The Dominican Order was in charge of the Inquisition, so next door to the church is the building which was the headquarters of the Church tribunal that tried people accused of heresy. 

For 84 years, from 1736 until 1820, this building housed the dreaded Holy Office of the Inquisition.  Later it became the School of Medicine of the University of Mexico.  In 1956 the University was moved to a new campus on the south side of the city.  Since 1980 the building has housed the Museum of Mexican Medicine.  I had never visited the museum, so I decided to go inside.  

And that will be the topic of my next blog entry.