A G: Mexico City Day 4 by Aaron, Tour of Zócalo - Downtown Mexico City, Angel of Independence

Tour of Zócalo - downtown Mexico City, Angel of Independence

~ Aaron

I had a fun day in Mexico City this day. The tour of downtown Mexico City was educational. The San Francisco Church was very old. Rising above everything else around it. The Angel of Independence was easy to spot from a distance. This day was a great day.

Tour of downtown Mexico City

Our tour group gathered at the main entrance of

Metropolitan Cathedral at 11:10am

split into 2 Spanish groups and 1 English group

Zocalo

Two government buildings

standing at Zocalo

The government building with decorations

getting ready for

Mexico Independent Day, September 16

National Palace

at Zocalo

Metropolitan Cathedral

Metropolitan Cathedral, viewed from its sideway

Metropolitan Cathedral

At the entrance of

Metropolitan Cathedral

Interior of

Metropolitan Cathedral

Interior of

Metropolitan Cathedral

Interior of

Metropolitan Cathedral

Interior of

Metropolitan Cathedral

Interior of

Metropolitan Cathedral

Interior of

Metropolitan Cathedral

Templo Mayor

Model of the Great Temple

Goddess of the Moon

the round disc

sitting in the middle.

People first discovered this disc

during city construction.

Then carefully removed
a garbage mountain
on the top, foundation
of Great Temple

standing in front of the world

The round disc is the sacrificed Goddess of the Moon

with the chopped off arms and legs

Closer disc:

Goddes of the Moon

Farther disc:

God of the Sun

Templo Mayor museum

God of the Sun disc

painting with original color

Templo Mayor museum

Goddess of the Moon

painting with original color

Ledt: House of the Eagles of Templo Mayor

Right: the red building is a high school, which holds a huge number

of murals from Diego Rivera

Noche de Museos

At the entrance of Noche de Museos

Noche de Museos

Original face of 1st

Angel of Independence

which fell off from

an earthquake.

At Noche de Museos

Different angle to see

broken face of 1st

Angel o Independence

Different angle to see

broken face of 1st

Angel o Independence

The tour we had started at the Metropolitan Cathedral, near our hotel. We learned much about the history of the church. However, before long, we were walking to the nearby Templo Mayor built by the Aztecs to learn more about the history of the Aztecs, and of the building itself. One sad thing we saw on the tour was the crushed face of the first Angel of Independence, which fell from the high column it was located on during one powerful earthquake.

National Archive for Medicine

The 1st out of 3 door

in the crazy lady legend

National Archive for Medicine

Roof of

National Archive

for Medicine

Our tour guide telling

the legend about

a crazy lady and 3 doors

National Archive

for Medicine

One story we heard during the tour was about the National Archive for Medicine and its three doors. One day, a carpenter was working normally, a lady came up to him and asked him to build three doors. She ordered to place them at the building that was a hospital for the crazy (now the National Archive for Medicine). After the carpenter finished the doors, he traveled very far to deliver. Along the way, the carpenter was told that the lady had died a long time ago. What should he do with the doors? People suggested him to put them back. However, in his dream, the lady came back again. This time, she looked very crazy, pulling her hair, and yelling at him. She begged him to put the doors onto where she requested before. So, these three doors finally was placed at the building of National Archive for Medicine.

Camara de Diputados

where Constitution of Mexico was written

At Camara de Diputados

where Constitution of

Mexico was written

At Camara de Diputados

Senado de la Republica

At the entrance of

Senado de la Republica

Movie 007 was filmed

at this building,

right across of Senado de la Republica

Our tour guide telling

the history of MexicoT

The Eje Central (Lazaro Cardenas)

The Eje Central, Central Historical

Museo Manual Tolsa at Eje Central

Museo Manual Tolsa

at Eje Central

Museo Nacional de Arte

The Eje Central, Central Historical

Postal Palace of Mexico City

at Eje Central

Postal Palace of the Mexico City

At the entrance of

Postal Palace of the Mexico City

Inside Postal Palace

of the Mexico City

Inside Postal Palace

of the Mexico City

Inside Postal Palace

of the Mexico City

Palacio de Bellas Artes

A bus in front of

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Stairs in front of the palace is the evidence

of the sinking of Mexico City

at Palacio de Bellas Artes

The tallest building

of Mexico City

that survived the

earthquake of 1985

A benefit of getting a tour of Mexico City is that they show you all the important things in Mexico City. One of the buildings we visited was Camara de Diputados, where the Constitution of Mexico was written. We also learned the story of the fights over who would be the president in the early independence time. The Postal Palace of Mexico City has very beautiful example of architecture in Baroque style, built at the start of the 20th century. It was designed to be similar to Paris. It is the Golden Jewel of Centro Historico. The Palace of Fine Arts was our last stop before the end of the tour. We learned how it was originally built by an Italian architect, but wasn’t finished by its deadline, abandoned for 20 years, then was completed in another few years. The tour guide also explained some of the different building styles and the food.

Church of San Francisco

The interior of

Church of San Francisco

The mural of Church of San Francisco

Church of San Francisco and its murals

The Church of San Francisco was built right after the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. It was the meeting place of the leaders of making everyone in New Spain believe in their religion. The church was built right on top of the old Aztec emperor’s garden. The original church was built between 1710 and 1716. The current church is probably the 3rd church built on the exact same site. Sadly, the first two church sunk down into the soft soil and had to be turned down. Even being rebuilt, the current church looks about 200 to 300 years old. There are several evidence on the building showing that the church is sinking.

Angel of Independence

Angel of Independence at distance

Angel of Independence in the distance

Angel of Independence

Statue representing Justice

Statue representing War

Statue representing Peace

Statue representing Law

Angel of Independence

The Angel of Independence is a golden statue on top of a huge stone pillar. It is surrounded by 4 statues, which represent war, peace, law, and justice. It was ordered to be built in 1900, and was completed just in time for the festival of 100 years of Mexican Independence in 1910. The 1957 earthquake made the angel fall and break into pieces, and was rebuilt about 1 year later. The newer angel lasted through the 1985 earthquake with little damage to the angel. This angel is a very pretty.

Day four in Mexico City was very awesome. The tour was wonderful. The San Francisco Church is very historical. The Angel of Independence is a famed landmark of Mexico City, and is fairly easy to spot compared to some other landmarks. I hoped that this day would never end.