Historic Centre of Mexico City
Zona De Monumentos HistóRicos · Patrimonio Mundial · Ciudad de México, Ciudad de México
The Spanish built their capital in the sixteenth century directly on top of Tenochtitlan, using stones of the Aztec city to raise the cathedral, and the result is a colonial centre on a drained lake with an Aztec temple excavated at its corner. The Zocalo is one of the largest city squares in the world; the Metropolitan Cathedral on its north side took 250 years to finish and visibly sinks; the Templo Mayor beside it was found in 1978 when electricity workers dug into it. UNESCO inscribed the centre, together with the canals of Xochimilco, in 1987. It is flat, free to walk and packed with museums, murals and food. Go early, bring photo ID for the Palacio Nacional, mind the sloping floors and uneven paving, eat two streets off the square, and expect crowds from midday and on weekends. Museums here are cheap, the Metro costs MXN 5, and a rooftop drink facing the cathedral is worth one stop for the view.
Plaza de la Constitución, Centro Histórico, Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México, Ciudad de México, 06000, Mexico
The streets, the Zócalo and the plazas are public, FREE and open at all times. Individual museums keep their own hours and ⚠ MOST INAH MUSEUMS INCLUDING TEMPLO MAYOR CLOSE ON MONDAYS. ⚠ SUNDAYS ARE FREE TO MEXICAN NATIONALS AND RESIDENTS at the state museums, which makes Sunday both the busiest day in the centre and the most alive - choose it deliberately. ⚠ THE PALACIO NACIONAL IS FREE BUT REQUIRES PHOTO IDENTIFICATION to enter; it is a working seat of government and holds Diego Rivera's murals of Mexican history. ⚠ COME IN THE MORNING - by midday Calle Madero and the Zócalo are shoulder to shoulder. ⚠ THE WHOLE DISTRICT IS SINKING INTO THE DRAINED LAKEBED, so pavements and thresholds are uneven, floors slope and steps appear without warning. Ordinary big-city caution applies in dense crowds. ⚠ DEMONSTRATIONS FREQUENTLY OCCUPY THE ZÓCALO and can close surrounding streets at short notice. Afternoon downpours are reliable in the summer rainy season.
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