El ZócaloIn the middle of the city's historic centre is the
enormous paved Plaza de la Constitución, or Zócalo, the second
largest city square in the world, and Mexico City's centre of
government and religion. The Presidential Palace dominates one side
of the square, a magnificent colonial building that was built on
the site of the former Aztec Palace, with remarkable interior
murals narrating the story of Mexico's history. Dominating an
adjacent side of the square is the great Metropolitan Cathedral,
displaying a wealth of architectural styles and occupying the site
of the once sacred grounds of the Aztec. The ornate interior
contains its chief treasure, the King's Chapel and gilded altar.
The Cathedral is one of the buildings subsiding into the soft
ground on which the city is built and builders are continuously at
work to prevent its uneven descent. The square itself is filled
with activity, with vendors and buskers, informal traditional Aztec
dance performances, family groups, workers on lunch break and
passing tourists. It is also the place for demonstrations,
government rallies and protest marches, as well as festivals and
public holiday events. Every evening the presidential guards, in a
show of great ceremony, lower the national flag from the central
flagpole. And encircling the square is the continuous buzz of the
ubiquitous green Volkswagen taxis.Templo MayorTemplo Mayor (Great Temple) was the principal temple
of the Aztecs, believed to mark the centre of the universe. It was
part of the sacred complex of the ancient city of Tenochtitlán, and
today it has been excavated to show the multiple layers of
construction, viewed from a raised walkway with explanatory
material available. The temple was first built in 1375, and
enlarged several times, each rebuilding accompanied by a frenzied
bloody sacrifice of captured warriors to rededicate the sacred
area. At the centre is a platform on which stands a sacrificial
stone in front of the shrine to the tribal god, Huizilopochtli.
Within the site is the excellent Museo del Templo Mayor, a museum
displaying artefacts from the original site and providing an
overview of Aztec civilisation. The most important display is the
first artefact to be discovered on the site, the great wheel-like
stone carving of the Aztec goddess of the moon,
Coyilxauhqui.Palacio de Bellas ArtesSituated at one end of the Alameda Central that was
once an ancient market place and is now a large park, is the
splendid white marble structure of the Palacio de Bellas Artes
(Palace of Fine Arts). A concert hall and an arts centre, it houses
some of Mexico's finest murals and the Art Deco interior is worth
seeing alone. The Palacio has two museums: the Museo del Palacio de
Bellas Artes and the Museo de la Arquitectura. The art museum's
collection includes over 6,000 paintings, sculptures and engravings
from 1650 to 1954 with masterpieces by prominent Mexican artists
such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo. One
of the highlights of the Palacio is the theatre's stained glass
stage curtain, which is lit before performances and for public
viewing. The Ballet Folklorico performs here every Wednesday and
Sunday.Bosque de Chapultepec and the Museo Nacional de
AntropologíaBosque de Chapultepec is Mexico City's largest park,
covering an enormous area containing lakes, the zoo and several
museums, including the Museo Nacional de Antropología. The park
attracts thousands of people, especially on weekends when families
come to picnic, relax in the woods and visit the museums. The huge
National Museum of Anthropology is one of the finest of its kind in
the world, housing a fascinating collection of pre-Hispanic
artefacts, from the first people in the Americas, to the
Teotihuacána Empire, the Aztecs and the Mayans. Highlights include
the famous Aztec Sun Stone or Calendar Stone found beneath the
Zócalo (main square) in 1790. There are also exhibits illustrating
the modern way of life in today's indigenous
communities.San ÁngelFormerly a separate village, San Ángel is one of the
more charming of Mexico's suburbs, an exclusive neighbourhood with
ancient mansions and colonial houses along cobbled streets. It is
famed for its Saturday craft market in the pretty Plaza San
Jacinto, which brings colour, crowds and a festive atmosphere to
the area, and has excellent art and handicrafts for sale. It is
crammed with little restaurants and cafes, offering the city's best
dining experiences, albeit expensive. There are several museums of
interest, including the Studio Museum of Mexico's famous pair, the
artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.Zona RosaThe Zona Rosa (Pink Zone) is the city's major dining,
nightlife and shopping district. It is a compact area, a dense knot
of streets crammed with bars, shops, boutiques, restaurants and
hotels. The streets are all named for famous cities such as Londres
and Hamburgo and the best activity here is to people watch from a
chic sidewalk café, as the endless stream of tourists and a mixture
of the city's purposeful middle classes pass by. It is where the
symbol of Mexico City stands, a gilded statue of Winged Victory,
the Independence Monument.TeotihuacánSituated 31 miles (50km) from Mexico City, Teotihuacán
is the site of Mexico's largest ancient city, constructed by a long
forgotten culture, and dating from around 300 to 600 BC. It is
believed that after thriving for about 2,000 years, a great fire
caused the city to be abandoned and the Aztecs arrived in the
region to find a forsaken city. Recognising signs of its previous
magnificence they named it what it is today, Teotihuacán, 'place of
the gods'. The central thoroughfare is the Avenue of the Dead, a
1.3-mile (2km) stretch lined with the palaces of the elite and
connecting the three main site areas, the Pyramid of the Sun,
Pyramid of the Moon and the Citadel. The Pyramid of the Sun is the
third largest pyramid in the world, a huge red painted structure
built over a cave, found to contain religious artefacts relating to
sun worship. From the top of the stairs the views over the ruins
are fantastic. The more graceful Pyramid of the Moon is situated at
one end of the Avenue with an altar in the plaza believed to have
been used for religious dancing. The Citadel at the other end of
the Avenue is a large square complex that was the residence of the
city's ruler. Within the walls is its main feature, the Templo de
Quetzalcóatl, are some striking serpent carvings. The Tepantitla
Palace holds Teotihuacán's most famous fresco, the faded 'Paradise
of Tláloc'. There is a museum housing excellent displays of the
city's artefacts, models and explanatory diagrams of the
site.GuanajuatoGuanajuato is considered to be one of Mexico's
colonial gems, founded around the rich silver deposits discovered
by the Spanish in 1558. It is a city of history, where the cry of
rebellion against the Spanish was raised and the struggle for
Independence began, a history of wealthy silver barons and
oppressed Indian miners. The city has an unusual layout, crammed
into a narrow valley, with houses and streets forced into irregular
positions due to the naturally hilly topography. Brightly painted
higgledy-piggledy houses perch on the slopes, reached by narrow
crooked alleyways of cobbled stone; hidden plazas, steep irregular
stairways, underground tunnels and thoroughfares lend the city much
of its charming character. Along with its picturesque setting and
unusual beauty, Guanajuato has many historical buildings and
magnificent architecture, including several churches and museums,
and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The most
narrow, and most visited, alley is the Callejón del Beso (Alley of
the Kiss) where the balconies of the leaning houses on either side
almost touch each other, a feature in the local romantic legend
about furtive lovers exchanging kisses. Cultural events are an
important part of the city, which hosts several festivals during
the year. Every weekend the famous strolling musicians, or
callejoneadas, in traditional dress, lead processions through the
narrow winding alleyways, strumming, singing and telling stories to
the crowds that follow.
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