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| Alameda Central, the safe haven of Mexico City |
The Alameda Central park is Mexico City`s oldest promenade and its most traditional park. It was named after poplars (alamos) that were originally planted here. Long before that it was an Aztec marketplace. In the 16th century when the conquistadors took over, the Spanish inquisitions burned heretics on a stake here. The governor of New Spain turned it into a pubic park at the end of the 16th century. Today, La Alameda is situated among the most interesting buildings and museums in the city. It is some 800 m away from Zocalo and the easiest way to reach it is by metro (Hidalgo or Bellas Artes station). During the administration of Mayor Lopez Obrador, the Alameda was thoroughly reconstructed. The architect Ricardo Legorreta designed the Foreign Relations Secretariat towers. Together with the Sheraton Centro Historico they have changed the look of that area. The most recently inaugurated building (2006) is the Museo de Arte (The Museum of Popular Art) popular brings together the folk art from all 31 Mexican states. The museum occupiey a refurbished ART Deco building (a former fire and police station). It is home of some 200 contemporary and traditional exhibits that present the cultural and geographical diversity of Mexico.
As most of the buildings around the Alameda Central park, the Alameda Art Laboratory (tel: 5510-2793; www.artealameda.inba.gob.mx; Dr Mora 7; admission $1.50, free Sun; opening hours 9am-5pm Tue-Sun, metro Hidalgo) causes interest as much as its content. In the 17th century it was known as the Convento de San Diego that was almost completely torn down and turned into a church during the post-independence period. Today the building is home for installations by great experimental Mexican and world artists. The emphasis is put on cross-disciplinary projects, interactive, electronic and virtual media.
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| A detail of the most famous mural by Diego Rivera Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park |
The Franz Mayer Museum (Tel: 5518-2266; Hidalgo 45; admission $2.75, Tue free; opening hours 10am-5pm Tue &Thu-Sun, until 7pm Wed, metro Bellas Artes) is the result of the German financier from Mannheim, Franz Mayer (born in 1882) who prosperred in his new home-country Mexico. His collection of ceramics, furniture, silver and textiles are exhibited at the museum. It is housed in the former nursing home of the San Juan de Dios order.
The Diego Rivera Mural Museum (tel: 5512-0754; cnr Balderas & Colon; admission $1.50, free Sun; opening hours 9am-5 pm Tue-Sun; metro Hidalgo) houses Diego River`s most famous mural Sueno de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park). It was painted on the wall of the Hotel Prada in 1947. The hotel was demolished after the earthquake in 1985, but its mural saved and transported to this new location. The mural (15 m long and 4 high) chronicles the history of the park . Numerous historical figures are portrayed in the mural: Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz - a brilliant progressive woman, an excellent poetess who became a nun; Cortez - a heretic suffering under the Spanish inquisition; emperor Maximillian and empress Carlota; Hose Marti, the Cuban revolutionary; Diego Rivera himself as a pug-faced child and Frida Kahlo, etc. The stand around a Catarina (a skeleton in in a pre-revolutionary woman`s garb).
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| The Palacio de Bellas Artes, designed by the Italian architect Boari |
The Palace of Fine Arts (tel: 5512-2593; Hidalgo 1; admission $3.25 Sun free; opening hours 10am-6pm Tue-Sun; metro Bellas Artes), a massive neoclassical building whose construction began in 1905 on the remains of the Santa Isabel convent under the guidance of the Italian architect Boari. Its facade is made from Carrara marble. Originally it was to symbolize national progress and should have been a theater for the upper class. Porfirio Diaz wanted to open it in 1911 to mark 100 years of independence from Spain but because of the instability of the ground the inauguration was postponed. The Revolution stopped the construction for a while and Boari returned to Italy. The architect Federico Mariscal completed the interior in 1934. The upper floors are full of immense murals. The third floor houses Diego Rivera`s famous El Hombre En El Cruce de Caminos (Man at the Crossroads) that was originally intended for the Rockefeller Center in new York. But because of the anti-capitalist theme the mural was destroyed. Rivera re-creted it in 1934. Two works by Rufino Tamayo dominate the 2nd floor: Nacimiento de la Nacionalidad (Birth of Nationality) and Mexico de Hoy (Mexico Today). The Museo Nacional de Arquitectura (admission $2.75, free Sun; opening hours 10.30am-5pm Tue-Sun) features contemporary architecture exhibits. The Bellas Artes theater is a beautiful stage for international opera and theater. The stage has a glass mosaic curtain weighing 22 tons. It was designed by Dr Atl (Gerardo Murillo) and made by Tiffany`s of New York. It depicts the landscape of the Valle de Mexico with the two volcanoes Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The famous Ballet Folklorico performs three times a week.
