Day 1
The Zócalo and the old heart of Mexico City
Morning
Zócalo, Plaza de la Constitución
The central square is about 240 metres on each side, which makes it one of the largest in the world. It stands on the exact site of the ceremonial centre of Tenochtitlan, razed and then built over by the colonial city. An enormous flag is raised and lowered there every day by a military detachment.
Metropolitan Cathedral
Begun in 1573 and finished in 1813, the largest cathedral in Latin America layers Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical. Built on the soft ground of the former Lake Texcoco, it has sunk by several metres and was underpinned in the 1990s. Inside, the Altar de los Reyes and its Churrigueresque profusion are worth the visit on their own.
National Palace and the murals of Diego Rivera
The building stands on the Casas Nuevas de Moctezuma, before becoming the palace of the viceroys and then the seat of the executive. Between 1929 and 1935 Rivera painted the great mural on the main staircase there, a history of Mexico from pre-Hispanic times to the revolution, extended by the series in the first-floor corridors on the indigenous world before the conquest.
Templo Mayor and its museum
The great double temple of Tenochtitlan, dedicated to Tlaloc and to Huitzilopochtli, was rediscovered in 1978 by electricians who struck the Coyolxauhqui monolith. The digs have exposed seven building phases, each ruler covering over the work of his predecessor. The neighbouring museum, by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, shows the thousands of offerings found in the fill. Times and prices on
Afternoon
Palacio de Bellas Artes
Commissioned by Porfirio Díaz from the Italian Adamo Boari for the centenary of independence, the works opened in 1904, bogged down in the spongy ground and then in the revolution, and were only finished in 1934 by Federico Mariscal. Hence the contrast: an Art Nouveau exterior in Carrara marble, an Art Deco interior. The upper floors hold murals by Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros and Tamayo.
Torre Latinoamericana
182 metres, opened in 1956 and still standing after the 1985 earthquake that devastated the centre. Viewing deck on the 44th floor: this is where you grasp the scale of the city, and it is the best angle on the domes of the palace.
Casa de los Azulejos
An eighteenth-century Baroque palace whose three façades are entirely faced with blue and white azulejos from Puebla, put up on the orders of the Countess of the Valle de Orizaba in 1737. The inner courtyard and its ornate staircase are open to walk through.
Good to know
Mexico City is at 2,240 metres. The first day is taken slowly, without effort and drinking plenty. The Templo Mayor and its museum close on Mondays, like most museums in the city. The National Palace can only be visited on a guided tour, free of charge, Tuesday to Sunday, last departure at 4:00 PM. Access has been restricted several times in recent years, so check again the day before on gob.mx/palacionacional.