Driving Around Central Mexico

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Thursday, 13 April 1995 - Spent the day in Mexico City exploring its historic heart , visited the massive Catedral Metropolitana with its ornate interiors and sinking towers, saw the murals at the Palacio Nacional including Diego Rivera's works, walked past the Templo Mayor and its Aztec ruins at the Zócalo enjoyed lunch with views over the main square, then took the subway to the Basilica de Guadalupe one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the Americas.

Mexico 1995
This is the Catedral Metropolitana, completed in 1813 after almost 300-year construction. Latin America's largest church, it dominates the main square of the city. Its baroque alters and side chapels are very ornate. The church is sinking because Mexico City was built on a lake, inside scaffolding is holding up the walls. The towers rise 220 feet above the Zocalo. Since it took three centuries to build it is a mix of architecture from Classical to Baroque and Churrigueresque to Neo-Classical.
Mexico 1995
Palacio Nacional is the National Place and stands on the site of Montezuma's palace which became the residence of Cortes after his conquest of Mexico. Today it houses the offices of the President. There is a famous mural by Diego Rivera in the aftermath of the Revolution in early 1900. This is a picture of the main courtyard.
Mexico 1995
Here is a picture of the Templo Mayor the site of the Aztec teocalli (sacred city) that formed the heart of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital. The first stone was discovered in 1978 but built in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was almost completely destroyed by the Spaniards after their conquest of the Aztecs. This picture is of the snake heads guarding the foot of the main staircase. They indicate that the temple was built as symbolic recreation of Coatepec - "the Hill of the Serpent" a sacred place in Aztec mythology.
Mexico 1995
The main square is called the Zocalo. This is a picture across the square toward the Hotel Majeste. This square is used as a venue for state ceremonial occasions and military parades. On top of the hotel is a patio restaurant where we had a great lunch.
Mexico 1995
From the top of the Gran Hotel restaurant is a view across to the Palacio Nacional.
Mexico 1995
This is the interior of the Castillo de Chapultepec that was once the residence of the Mexican rulers, including the Emperor Maximilian. The Castle was built on a hill that looked across the lake to Tenochtitlan. A crucial battle was fought here when army cadets die trying to defend the fortress against invading US troops. It is now a museum.
In traveling to the Basilica de Guadalupe the police stopped us because our brand new rental car was polluting. In fact there was no visible exhaust - but for several dollars US we could avoid arrest. We feigned ignorance of the language and were able to convince the police to lead us to the rental agency where we parted with the car - and gave to police 2 dollars for their help. We then used the subway to visit the Basilica de Guadalupe, the richest and most visited Catholic shrine in all the Americas. It is a complex set of buildings where legend has it that in 1531 a brown skinned Virgin Mary miraculously appeared to the Indian Juan Diego.

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