The Torre Latinoamericana rises forty-four stories above the intersection of Eje Central and Calle Madero. Its glass and aluminum facade looms over the historic center, marking the start of this walk through five centuries of architecture.…
Calle Madero Walk
This walk down Mexico City's busiest pedestrian street takes you past beautiful colonial palaces, historic churches, and architectural treasures on your way to the Zócalo.
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1. Torre Latinoamericana
2. Casa de los Azulejos
The Casa de los Azulejos is impossible to miss, defined by its exterior walls which are entirely sheathed in intricate blue and white Talavera tiles imported from Puebla. This eighteenth-century Baroque palace features these ceramic tiles…
3. Church of San Francisco
The Church of San Francisco sits on ground that once held the zoological gardens of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma the Second. This site later became the headquarters for the first twelve Franciscan friars who arrived to evangelize in New…
4. Templo Expiatorio Nacional de San Felipe de Jesús
The Templo Expiatorio Nacional de San Felipe de Jesús rises above the busy Francisco I. Madero pedestrian corridor with a striking, rare-for-the-city neoromanesque facade. Built between eighteen eighty-six and eighteen ninety-seven, the…
5. Iturbide's Palace - Banamex Culture Palace.
The Palacio de Iturbide is identifiable by its dark red tezontle volcanic stone contrasted against pale cantera carvings, a combination that defines many grand homes from the late colonial period. Designed by Francisco Antonio Guerrero y…
6. Casa Borda
Casa Borda is defined by the intricate, sculpted stone carvings along its ground floor facade and the remnants of its double ironwork balconies. Built in seventeen seventy-five, this mansion once spanned an entire city block at the…
7. The Professed: Temple of San Felipe Neri
The Temple of San Felipe Neri, widely known as La Profesa, sits at the corner of Madero and Isabel la Católica streets as an austere, Baroque structure of tezontle and cantera stone. Its recessed facade and stone steps identify it among…
8. Estanquillo Museum
The Museo del Estanquillo sits within the La Esmeralda building, marked by its ornate, eclectic nineteenth-century architecture and ironwork at the corner of Isabel la Católica and Madero streets. Opened in two thousand six, the museum…
9. Viejo Portal de Mercaderes
The Viejo Portal de Mercaderes forms the long, arched western edge of the Zócalo, defined by a series of covered stone walkways. These arches were originally mandated by the city council in fifteen twenty-four, requiring property owners…
10. Zócalo
The Zócalo is a vast, open plaza in the center of Mexico City, defined by its flat expanse and a massive Mexican flag that flies at its heart. Formally named the Plaza de la Constitución, it sits upon what was once the ceremonial center of…