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Mexico City Attractions

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Mexico City Attractions

The diverse attractions in Mexico City spring from its complex layers of history. From the simple pleasure of a stroll through a bustling mercado to museums filled with treasures of artistic and historic significance, Mexico City has much to explore.

Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe - The Basílica occupies the site where, on December 9, 1531, a poor Indian named Juan Diego reputedly saw a vision of a beautiful lady in a blue mantle. The local bishop, Zumarraga, was reluctant to confirm that Juan Diego had indeed seen the Virgin Mary, so he asked the peasant for evidence. Juan Diego saw the vision a second time, on December 12, and when he asked her for proof, she instructed him to collect the roses that began blooming in the rocky soil at his feet. He gathered the flowers in his cloak and returned to the bishop. When he unfurled his cloak, the flowers dropped to the ground and the image of the Virgin was miraculously emblazoned on the rough-hewn cloth. The bishop immediately ordered the building of a church on the spot, and upon its completion, the cloth with the Virgin's image was hung in a place of honor, framed in gold. Since that time, millions of the devout and the curious have come to view the miraculous image that experts, it is said, are at a loss to explain. So heavy was the flow of visitors -- many approached for hundreds of yards on their knees -- that the old church, already fragile, was insufficient to handle them. An audacious New Basílica, designed by Pedro Ramírez Vazquez, the same architect who designed the breathtaking Museo Nacional de Antropología, opened in 1987.

Zocalo - Every Spanish colonial city in North America was laid out according to a textbook plan, with a plaza at the center surrounded by a church, government buildings, and military headquarters. Because Mexico City was the capital of New Spain, its zócalo is one of the grandest, graced on all sides by stately 17th-century buildings.

Zócalo actually means "pedestal" or "plinth." A grand monument to Mexico's independence was planned and the pedestal built, but the project was never completed. Nevertheless, the pedestal became a landmark for visitors, and soon everyone was calling the square the zócalo, even after the pedestal was removed. (Its official name, which you will rarely hear, is Plaza de la Constitución.) It covers almost 4 hectares (10 acres) and is bounded on the north by Cinco de Mayo, on the east by Piño Suárez, on the south by 16 de Septiembre, and on the west by Nacional Monte de Piedad. The downtown district -- especially north of the Templo Mayor, one of the oldest archaeological sites in the city -- is currently undergoing an important restoration project that is renewing much of its colonial charm. Occupying the entire east side of the zócalo is the majestic red tezontle-stone Palacio National, seat of the Mexican national government, and on the northern border is the Catedral Metropolitana.

Mexico City Activities

Alameda Park - Today the lovely tree-filled Alameda Park attracts pedestrians, cotton-candy vendors, strollers, lovers, and organ grinders. Long ago, the site was an Aztec marketplace. When the conquistadors took over in the mid-1500s, heretics were burned at the stake here under the Spanish Inquisition. In 1592, the governor of New Spain, Viceroy Luis de Velasco, converted it to a public park. Within the park, known as La Alameda, is the Juárez Monument, sometimes called the Hemiciclo (hemicycle, or half-circle), facing Avenida Juárez. Enthroned as the hero he was, Juárez assumes his proper place here in the pantheon of Mexican patriots. European (particularly French) sculptors created most of the other statuary in the park in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Chapultepec Park - One of the biggest city parks in the world, 220-hectare (551-acre) Chapultepec Park is more than a playground; it's virtually the centerpiece of the city. Besides accommodating picnickers on worn-away grass under centuries-old trees, it has canoes on the lake; jogging and bridle paths; vendors selling balloons, souvenirs, and food; a miniature train; an auditorium; and Los Pinos, home of Mexico's president. The park is also home to the City Zoo and La Feria amusement park. Most important for tourists, it contains a number of interesting museums, including the Museo Nacional de Antropología.