Top 25 Mexico City Attractions

Mexico City is a huge "human anthill" located in a green valley among mountains and volcanoes, in the ancient land of the Aztecs. This city seems to have absorbed everything: the centuries-old history of the Indian peoples, adventurism and greed of the first Spanish conquistadors, archaic Catholic morality and quite modern tolerance.

Tourists come to Mexico City to listen to the soulful songs of mariachi musicians, taste the burning dishes of Mexican cuisine and plunge headlong into the mysterious and attractive atmosphere of Spanish-American culture. The city will definitely delight guests with its magnificent palaces and interesting museums, where treasures of civilizations almost wiped off the face of the earth are hidden.

What to see and where to go in Mexico City?

The most interesting and beautiful places for walking. Photos and a short description.

Palace of Fine Arts

An imposing opera house built from Carrara marble. The grandiose palace has graced the center of Mexico's capital since the 1930s. The building was designed by the Italian architect A. Boari in the neoclassical, art duvo and beaux art styles. Inside the walls are decorated with drawings by Mexican masters D. Rivera, J. C. Orozco, A. Siqueiros, F. Mariscal and other artists. Today, the Palace of Fine Arts is the most popular attraction in the capital.

Chapultepec Palace

The palace is located on the hill of the same name. It used to be the official residence of the rulers and governors of Mexico. The building began to be built at the end of the 18th century under Viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez, but due to lack of funds, it had to be put up for auction. In 1833, a military academy was placed in the palace, in 1864 Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg settled here. Today the building houses the National Historical Museum.

Constitution Square

Another name for the square is Zocalo. It is the largest in Latin America and one of the largest in the world (more than 46 thousand m²). In the middle is a powerful flagpole, on which the national banner flutters. There are two famous sights on the square - the National Palace and the city's cathedral. The Zocalo was built using stones brought from the ruins of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.

Paseo de la Reforma

The main alley of the Mexican capital, which is a wide avenue. It was founded in the 1860s. under Emperor Maximilian. The project was based on the proportions of the streets of European capitals. The length of the avenue is about 12 km. It stretches from Chapultepec Park to Madero Street. The main local attraction is the Angel of Independence column, erected in honor of the country's victory in the struggle for freedom.

Mexico City Cathedral

The main Catholic church in Mexico, one of the oldest and most significant in Latin America. The first church on the site of a modern building was founded in the 16th century by Hernan Cortes. Today it is located in the northeastern part of the cathedral. For the construction of a grandiose building, stones from the destroyed temple of the god of war, Huitzilopochtli, were used. The building is designed in the style of colonial architecture.

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is the patron saint of the country, she is even called the "mother of all Mexicans." The basilica keeps her image (the image on the cape), allegedly acquired by the Indian Juan Diego, who even had the honor of seeing the Virgin with his own eyes. The basilica was erected on the spot where this miraculous event took place. The church is an important pilgrimage center where thousands of Mexicans flock to.

National Palace

The current residence of the President of the country, which is located on Zocalo Square. The building was built in the Baroque style, or rather, in its Mexican version. The grandiose building has three floors and a length of more than 200 meters. The palace was designed by order of Hernan Cortes. The interior is decorated with magnificent frescoes by the famous artist Diego Rivera, dedicated to important milestones in the history of Mexico.

postal palace

The complex was built by order of the dictator Diaz at the beginning of the 20th century. The architectural style of the palace can be defined as eclectic, as the features of the Venetian and French manners are mixed in its appearance. The interiors of the building are distinguished by splendor and luxury - the space is richly decorated with marble, stucco, gilding, metal decorations. The building houses Mexico's main post office.

National Anthropological Museum

The museum is located within the Chapultepec Park. Its collections are devoted to the history of Mexico in the pre-Columbian period. In the spacious exhibition halls there are artifacts found on the territory of the country and which are material evidence of the high level of flourishing of Indian civilizations. For example, the museum houses a stone figure of the god of rain and the "Stone of the Sun" - the famous Aztec calendar.

Templo Mayor

Tepmlo Mayor or "great temple" in Spanish is the ruins of the pyramid of the gods Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, left after the destruction of the Aztec city of Tenochtitalan. Once the building reached a length of 60 meters and served as an important religious center. With the advent of Hernan Cortes, the temples were destroyed. Only in the 20th century, during construction work, a part of the base of the pyramid was discovered.

Frida Kahlo House Museum

Frida Kahlo is an artist, a communist and a rebel. She became a real symbol of the country and won the universal love of the people. The museum dedicated to the life and work of this extraordinary personality was opened in 1955 in a house that belonged to the Kahlo family at the beginning of the 20th century. Here she lived with her husband Diego Rivera. In the 1930s For some time, Leon Trotsky and his wife were hiding from the spouses.

Diego Rivera Mural Museum

The museum's collection consists of only one exhibit - a piece of the wall of the Prado Hotel, painted by the artist D. Rivera. After the earthquake in 1985, the hotel had to be demolished, but they decided to save the unique fresco for posterity. The painting is titled "Sunday Dream in Alameda Park". It has quite impressive dimensions - a length of 15 meters, a width of 4 meters, as well as an unbearable weight of 7 tons.

House-Museum of Leon Trotsky

The museum is located in the house where L. Trotsky lived the last months of his life until he was killed by an NKVD agent. Prior to that, he and his wife lived for two years at the villa of the artist Frida Kahlo. The exposition opened in 1990. Today it includes a library with the collected works of Lev Davidovich, modern Trotskyist literature, as well as documents and personal belongings of the revolutionary.

Folk Art Museum

The first visitors saw the collection in 2006. It was created to popularize Mexican traditional culture, which is a bizarre mix of ancient Indian beliefs and Catholicism. Sculptures, ceramics and wood products, paintings, jewelry and other works of folk art are collected here. The museum has courses on teaching various crafts and an educational center.

National Art Museum

The exposition consists of works by Mexican artists who worked in the period from the 16th to the 20th century. The museum houses more than 3 thousand exhibits, each of which belongs to a specific time. In total, the collection has three main parts: paintings written in the colonial era, after the country gained independence and after the Mexican Revolution. The building itself is an example of Mexican architecture of the early 20th century.

Museum of Memory and Tolerance

The museum was created with the aim of drawing public attention to crimes against humanity, as well as to the consequences of intolerance. Here the issues of the genocide of nations, discrimination of individual peoples and groups of society are touched upon, topical problems in the field of human rights are raised. The museum has a room for children, where they are taught about tolerance in a fun way.

Soumaya Museum

The collection is housed in a modern 2011 building that is shaped like an anvil. The museum was founded with funds from Mexican billionaire C. Slim to house his personal art collection. The exposition consists of paintings by local and European masters. Here you can see paintings by C. Monet, P. Renoir, C. Pissarro, E. Degas, as well as sculptures by Rodin.

Dolores Olmedo Museum

Dolores Olmedo became famous for having a love affair with the artist Diego Rivera. She was also a very wealthy woman and during her life managed to collect a rich collection of art objects, consisting of several dozen paintings. In 1994, a museum named after her was opened, where the collection was exhibited to the public. Among the exhibits are not only paintings, but also Dolores jewelry and sculptures.

latin american tower

Mexican 44-story skyscraper, built in the 1950s by A. Alvarez and M. de la Colina. The architects even received an award for being able to put up such a tall building in an earthquake-prone area. Most of the building houses offices of commercial organizations, the space from the 37th to the 44th floor is occupied by a museum, and there are observation platforms on the 42nd and 45th floors.

Azteca Stadium

Football arena, which is one of the largest in the world. Its stands can accommodate up to 105 thousand spectators, although many more people are often placed on the seats. The decisive matches of the World Cup were held here twice, and once - the Summer Olympic Games. The stadium was built in 1966, after 20 years the first reconstruction was carried out.

Mercado de Artesania

A great place to buy a variety of souvenirs, many of which cannot be found elsewhere. It sells traditional ceramics, national clothes, interesting products of Mexican craftsmen and many other things. A great bonus for Spanish-speaking tourists is an additional discount from sellers. For those who speak only English, prices will be obviously higher.

Xochimilco

The outskirts of the Mexican capital, known for the fact that on its territory there are channels of the Aztecs - chinampas. Once upon a time, flowers were massively grown here, today guests and residents of Mexico City ride on trachiner gondolas. The total length of the canals is more than 170 km, tourist routes are laid for 14 km. In 1987, Xochimilco was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Island of the Dolls

The spooky island is located about 18 km from Mexico City. It looks like the scenery for some mystical thriller: broken old dolls and parts of their bodies hang everywhere. A strange collection was collected by the hermit D. S. Barrera, who accidentally witnessed the tragic death of a little girl. Apparently, since then the man has gone crazy and addicted to such a strange hobby.

Alameda Central Park

Urban landscape park with French-style fountains, paved alleys and decorative statues, located on the site of the former El Camadero square, where heretics were burned until the 18th century. Poplars grow here in large numbers, which is why it received the name "Alameda" (this is the name of the tree in Spanish). Today the park is one of the favorite places for recreation and walking.

Chapultepec Park

A huge park of 800 hectares around the hill of the same name in the center of Mexico City. During the Aztec Empire, the country palace of the ruler was located here, connected to Tenochtitlan by a bridge. On the territory of Chapultepec there is a zoo, a rock with the image of the Aztec emperor Montezuma I, the National Museum of Anthropology and other interesting sights.