Zócalo

Do you remember the opening scene of Spectre by Sam Mendes? When Daniel Craig as James Bond hunts terrorists on the Día de los Muertos in Ciudad de México? The filming location was the Plaza de la Constitución, most often referred to as the Zócalo. It is the main square of the city and a tradition of colonial times: Latin American cities all have such a central square (that is most often called Plaza de Armas). In CDMX this place once hosted a memorial for Spanish king Carlos IV during colonial times which was removed after the Mexican independence and only the base or socket (Spanish: Zócalo) remained.

The Plaza de la Constitución is the second largest place after the Red Square (Красная площадь) of Москва́, Russia. It contains a giant Mexican flag on a pole and is often used for different kinds of events. Around it you’ll find different historical buildings which are for example hosting the presidential palace. Most impressive is the Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María, a vast cathedral and the oldest one on the American continent. It was built from 1573 and opened in  1667. Due to the unsolid ground of the city it was threatened in the past, but stabilized in the 1990s. Don’t miss the golden altars inside the building!

The Spanish didn’t select this region of México by incident: on the grounds of CDMX there was already the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán. Close to the Plaza de la Constitución you can find the Templo Mayor of king Moctezuma II. It is in the northeast behind the cathedral. You can just watch it from the outside and see the former structures of Moctezumas city – but there is also a museum introducing you into Aztec history and life.

Zócalo / Plaza de la Constitución
Catedral Metropolitana
Templo Mayor de México-Tenochtitlan
Ciudad de México
Mexico

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