Coyoacán is a borough in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco dominated by the Tepanec people. Against Aztec domination, these people welcomed Hernán Cortés and the Spanish, who used the area as a headquarters during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and made it the first capital of New Spain between 1521 and 1523.
The historic center of Mexico City, also known as the Centro or Centro Histórico, is the central neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico, focused on Zócalo or main plaza and extending in all directions for a number of blocks, with its farthest extent being west to the Alameda Central. The Zocalo is the largest plaza in Latin America. It can hold up to nearly 100,000 people.
The Escuela Nacional Preparatoria (ENP), the oldest senior High School system in Mexico, belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), opened its doors on February 1, 1868. It was founded by Gabino Barreda, M.D., following orders of then President of Mexico Benito Juárez. It is also modern UNAM's oldest institution.
The Museo de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público is an art museum located in the historic center of Mexico City. It is housed in what was the Palacio del Arzobispado, built in 1530 under Friar Juan de Zumárraga on the base of the destroyed pyramid dedicated to the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. It remained the archbishphoric until 1867 when the Finance Ministry Accountancy Department was established there. The modern museum houses an exhibit dedicated to this god as well as a large art collection.
Santo Domingo in Mexico City refers to the Church of Santo Domingo and its Plaza, also called Santo Domingo. Both are located three blocks north of the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral following República de Brasil Street with Belisario Dominguez Street separating the two.
The Church of San Bernardo stands at the corner of Avenida 20 de Noviembre and Venustiano Carranza Street just south of the Zocalo or main plaza of Mexico City. It was part of a convent of the same name that was founded in 1636, but was closed along with all convents and monasteries during the La Reforma period in 1861. Currently, only the church remains of the convent complex.
The Mexico City administrative buildings are two buildings on the south side of the Zócalo in Mexico City divided by the avenue Avenida 20 de Noviembre. They house offices of the governing authority of Mexico City. The building to the west of 20 de Noviembre is the older one and has been the site of city administration since the Conquest. The one to the east is newer, built in the 20th century.
The House of the First Printing Press in the Americas at the corner of Moneda and Licenciado Primo Verdad streets in Mexico City was the home of the first printing press/print shop in the New World. The printer Juan Pablos oversaw the printing of at least 35 books at this print shop between 1539, the date of the first book printed in the Americas, and his death in 1560.
The Museo Nacional de las Culturas is a national museum in Mexico City dedicated to education about the world's cultures, both past and present. It is housed in a colonial-era building that used to be the mint for making coins. Prior to this, the site was the home of the location of the Moctezuma's Black House. The mint was moved to Apartado Street in 1850, and the building was used for various purposes until it was converted to its current use in 1966.
The Convent of Nuestra Señora de La Merced was a Roman Catholic colonial religious complex in present-day Historic center of Mexico City, that was destroyed to give more space to future buildings. The cloister is all that is left of a monastery complex built in the late 16th and early 17th century by the Mercedarian order. It is located on Uruguay and Talavera Streets in the historic downtown of Mexico City. The complex lent its name to the area around it, La Merced, which in turn, inspired the name of the metro station and the well-known neighborhood Market.
The Caricature Museum is located in an 18th-century Baroque building in the historic center of Mexico City. It was opened in 1987 to preserve and promote the history of Mexican cartooning, done for both political and entertainment purposes. The historic building it occupies was originally the home of Cristo College, a royal college established in 1612.
The Nuestra Señora de Loreto Church in the historic center of Mexico City was the last major church constructed during the colonial period. Constructed between 1806 and 1819, the church tilts significantly to one side due to being constructed of stone of two different weights. Loreto is one of a number of churches in the historic district that the Archdiocese of Mexico says is in imminent danger of being lost due to structural damage from the uneven sinking. In front of the church is a plaza named after the church which used to be the site of Mexico City’s first synagogue.
The Palace of the Inquisition stands on the corner of República de Brasil and República de Venezuela streets in Mexico City, Mexico. As neither side of the building faces Santo Domingo Plaza, the entrance is placed at a canted corner to face the plaza. Its long association with the Inquisition, which ended during the Mexican War of Independence, made it difficult to convert to other purposes. However, it eventually became the School of Medicine for the reconstructed National University. When UNAM moved to the Ciudad Universitaria in the 1950s, it retained ownership of this building, eventually converting the structure in what is today the Museum of Mexican Medicine.
The Tlaxcala House is located at 40 San Ildefonso Street in the historic center of Mexico City. It is an example of a typical middle class home of the 18th century, meant that its style is somewhere between the mansions of the wealthy and the houses of the commoners of the time.
The House of the Marquis of Uluapa is located on 5 de Febrero Street in the historic center of Mexico City, Mexico. No one knows who originally owned the house but it has been proven that it never belonged to the Marquis of Uluapa. For this reason, it is officially archived only as “the house at number 18, 5 de Febrero Street.” However, the house remains popularly known as the House of the Marquis of Uluapa.
The house of the Counts of la Torre Cosío y la Cortina, located on 94 Republica de Uruguay Street in the historic center of Mexico City was built in 1781 and the scene for one of Mexico City's legends. The house is considered to be a fine example of civil architecture of the 18th century, shortly after the First Count De la Cortina received his noble title in 1773. The most notable member of this family would be Justo Gómez de la Cortina who was an important social and political figure in New Spain at the beginning of the 19th century.
The Borda House, located on 27, 29 and 33 Madero Street, and 26-28 Bolivar streets in the historic center of Mexico City, originally belonged to the Frenchman José de la Borda who was one of the richest men in New Spain in the 18th century. It stands out due to its notable architectural features such as the sculpted stone decorative details on the ground floor. The original building encompassed the entire city block. It had various inner courtyards, and Borda had an ironwork balcony built all the way around the building, supported by angles in the shape of rooster feet. This allowed one to walk all the way around the building on the outside.
The Church of Santa Inés is a church located at 26 Moneda Street, just northeast of the Zócalo, Mexico City, Mexico. The building, formerly part of the Convent of Santa Inés, is considered to be a mix of styles between Mexican Baroque and Neoclassical. The church was completely finished in 1770.
The Convent of Santa Inés was a convent in Mexico City from 1600 to 1861, later separated into the present day Church of Santa Inés and José Luis Cuevas Museum, located just off the Zócalo within the Historic center of Mexico City.
