Plaza Garibaldi, north of the Zócalo, is the quintessential place for mariachi in the Mexican capital. Dressed in the obligatory charro , the musicians do more than just sing accompanied by their guitars, trumpets and violins. If you get a chance fo..

Opera, dance and theatre are among the performances one can enjoy at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in an Art Deco décor of murals signed by masters Rufino Tamayo, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The building, designed by ..

This museum bears the name of Franz Mayer, a rich collector born in Germany who acquired top-quality works of Mexican decorative art including textiles, silver, furniture and ceramics. These treasures from the colonial period are exhibited in the for..

This mural on display in the Museo Mural Diego Rivera is a monument, both in dimension - 65 m 2 - and in pictorial quality. The master of muralism created this historical and political fresco full of meaning in 1947, prompting both admiration and ..

Given the scope of the pollution problem in Mexico City, it’s easy to see why the Bosque de Chapultepec is so important. A veritable “green lung”, this park with over 400ha has a lot going for it, from areas for picnicking, lakes for peaceful boat ri..

Chapultepec Castle overlooks the park of the same name. The fort, built in 1785 on a promontory, was a major centre of power, and the residence of the Emperor Maximilian, Porfirio Díaz and successive Presidents of the Republic up to Lázaro Cárdenas i..

The remarkable collections at the Museo Nacional de Historia recount the country’s history from New Spain to the Porfiriato. A work by muralist Juan O'Gorman (1905-1982), Retablo de la Independencia offsets the numerous paintings, costumes and docu..

This museum is well worth the trip south from the city centre. A close friend of painter Diego Rivera, Dolores Olmedo Patiño acquired some 145 works by the artist - the largest collection in the world - exhibited in this 16C hacienda nestled in a spl..

The Avenue of the Dead connects the Ciudadela and the Pyramid of the Moon on a straight 2km north-south path closely following the lay of the land in successive tiers, or “squares” used as gathering places and connected to the temples on the sides. T..

The large model in the Teotihuacán Site Museum gives you an idea of the size of the city, capital of the largest Pre-Columbian empire, whose limits extended far beyond the current site. Things to be seen include the complex earthenware censers in..

The finest mural fragments are contained in the Palacio de Tetitla, on the western side of the Teotihuacán site. Many rooms are still decorated at a height of 50 cm at the base of the walls, and the Jade Goddess panel on the main patio has remained..

The Palacio Tepantitla, to the east, boasts the famous Tlalocán mural (Tláloc Paradise), a reproduction of which is in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, as well as a frieze showing rain-making priests.

The monastery was built by the Augustinians and completed in 1560. The showy refinement of the church façade , epitomising the Plateresque style, contrasts with the roughness of the architecture, barely softened by a small bell cote. The superb C..

The Museo Amparo mainly exhibits beautiful Prehispanic art works and objects belonging to the remarkable collection assembled by Manuel Espinosa. Among the 3,000 pieces on display, note in particular a Maya throne made during the Classical period w..

Although the church and its spare façade exhibit the kind of austerity characteristic of Franciscan buildings, it boasts a splendid 16C retable. Note the frescoes decorating the vault, and the one depicting the first Franciscans in the New World, i..

In the Epiclassic period (650-900 AD) Maya tribesmen emigrating from the Gulf settled on the Altiplano in Cacaxtla. The meeting of Maya influences with those from Teotihuacán (in decline) is illustrated in the extraordinary murals . Well-preserved t..

The Basilica de la Virgen de Ocotlán overlooking the city looks like a Baroque gem - and a cream puff. It celebrates an apparition of the Virgin in the 16C. According to the legend, during the plague of 1541 the Virgin made a spring gush up for an In..

The Cerro de los Ídolos (“Hill of the Idols”), dedicated to sun worship, was also used as an astronomical observatory. It is reached on a pleasant wooded trail leading to a platform with a magical view over the valley. This Aztec sanctuary contains a..

Carved entirely out of the rocks, the Cuauhcalli is entered through the mouth of a monster with a forked tongue into a circular chamber along which stretches a bench with a sculpted jaguar and two eagles. An eagle-shaped altar in the centre is touche..

The Centro Cultural Mexiquense, a large cultural complex, covers a huge estate formerly occupied by the hacienda La Pila. The old buildings share the space with modern constructions, forming an ensemble of different areas where this cultural heritage..