Travel Eye on Mexico City (Mexico)

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Overview:

Mexico City is the world's third-largest metropolis (only Tokyo and NYC are bigger). Mexico's best and worst ingredients are all here: music and noise, brown air and green parks, colonial palaces and skyscrapers, world-renowned museums and ever-spreading slums.

The historic centre of Mexico City is the Plaza de la Constitución, more commonly known as the Zócalo . The plaza was first paved in the 1520s by Cortés with stones from the ruins of the temples and palaces of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán, the site on which Mexico City was built.

Tenochtitlán was built in the middle of a lake, so many of Mexico City's older buildings and churches are sinking into the boggy ground on which they were constructed.

Filling the entire eastern side of the Zócalo is the Palacio Nacional (National Palace), built on the site of an Aztec palace and formerly used to house the viceroys of New Spain. It is now home to the offices of the president, a museum and the dramatic revolutionary murals of Diego Rivera, which chronicle Mexico's history.

Despite its problems and somewhat bewildering energy Mexico City is a magnet for Mexicans and tourists alike: a modern, cosmopolitan and ever growing city that is attractive in so many ways. And despite its renown for the appalling, throat-rasping levels of pollution, Mexico City's skies often remain remarkably clear, and it does make for incredible sunsets.

One moment the city is all Latin beats, glamour and excitement; the next it's drabness, poverty, suffocating crowds and rancid smells. In spite of the negatives, Mexico City is a magnet for Mexicans and visitors alike. You certainly won't be bored.

Locality:

Situated in the Valle de México, a valley of some 2000 sq kilometres (772 sq miles), Mexico City lies at the very heart of the country of which it is capital, both physically and metaphorically.

Entertainment/Facilities/Attractions/Things to do:

The Catedral Metropolitana , on the northern side of the Zócalo, was built by the Spaniards in the 1520s on the site of the Aztecs' Tzompantli, or Wall of Skulls (a sort of altar on which the skulls of the sacrificed were placed).

Just east of the cathedral are the remnants of the Templo Mayor , the Aztecs' principal temple, and the stunning museum that houses the artifacts discovered at the site.

The Alameda , which was once an Aztec marketplace, is now a pleasant and verdant park. The streets around the Alameda are lined with colonial mansions, skyscrapers, lively cafés, restaurants, shops and markets.

Other must-sees include the Bosque de Chapultepec , Mexico City's largest park, which is home to a handful of museums, amusement parks and the official residence of the president; the Basilica de Guadalupe , the church built on the spot where Mexico's patron saint was seen in a vision; the colonial houses of San Ángel ; the Cuicuilco pyramid ; and the canals of Xochimilco .

Plaza Garibaldi is where the city's out-of-work mariachi bands gather in the evenings, and the Zona Rosa is the highlife and nightlife district.

The best moderately priced hotels are found in the areas west of the Zócalo and south of the Alameda. Excellent cheap food can be found in most areas of the city.