Mexico City & Xochimilco Floating Gardens Video Guide - Travel&Discover

The capital of Mexico, an incredible city. Old, the world's largest city, the financial, political and cultural center of Mexico. The enormous paved constitution square occupies the site of the ceremonial center of Mexico Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. Today it's the largest public square in the western hemisphere and the third largest in the world. Its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución and it's been the heart of the city since Aztec rule. The word Zócalo means base or plinth in Spanish. The name of the square stuck after the attempt to erect a monument to independence, which was never concluded. It's wonderful to see La Bandera de México, otherwise known as the flag of Mexico, as it flies in the Zócalo. The emblem shield on the flag symbolizes the Aztec heritage. According to a beautiful legend, the gods had advised the Aztecs that the place where they should establish their city would be identified when they saw an eagle perched on a prickly pear tree devouring a serpent. They saw this mythical eagle on Omarshi Lake, which is now the Zócalo or main plaza in Mexico City. The National Palace is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. It's located in Mexico City's main square. The Palacio Nacional is a complex of countless rooms, white stone stairways and numerous courtyards adorned with carved brass balconies and is where the President of Mexico works. Even so, it's better known for the fabulous second floor Diego Rivera murals depicting the history of Mexico. In 1926, a third level was added to the palace under the government of Plutarco Elías Cález. Between 1929 and 1951, the muralist Diego Rivera produced enormous murals in the palace, depicting and celebrating the history of Mexico, which occupy almost 1,200 square feet of wall space. Between 1999 and 2000, during the government of Ernesto Zedillo, the palace was substantially remodeled and restored. This historic building was once occupied by Hernán Cortés, the Spanish explorer who conquered the Aztecs, and includes a famous panoramic mural of Mexican history by Diego Rivera. The museum is set in the heart of downtown Mexico City, in the area known as the Historical Centre. According to legend, the Aztecs were told by a god to find a place where an eagle stood upon a cactus with a snake in its beak and there to build their city, Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, which was to become the epicentre of power for the powerful Aztec empire. In 1978, some electricity workers unearthed an eight-tonne stone disc of Coyalxauquí, an Aztec goddess. Further exploration revealed that there was an entire archaeological wonder lying beneath Mexico City's streets, and a decision was taken to demolish some old colonial buildings to reveal the Templo Mayor, main temple, and the place where it's believed the Aztecs saw the sign given to them by their gods. It was built by architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, who envisioned a discrete structure that would not compete with the colonial surroundings. The museum has four floors, three of them for permanent exhibitions and one of them with offices for the director, museum administration and research staff, among other functions. The museum was officially opened in 1987, but people visited the site even during the digging stages, albeit in limited numbers in restricted areas. The Templo Mayor is today a major attraction in the very heart of downtown Mexico and is one of Mexico's most important archaeological sites. The Catedral Metropolitana in Mexico City is one of the largest cathedrals in the Western Hemisphere. It was constructed in the Spanish Baroque style of architecture and includes a pair of 64-metre neoclassical towers which hold 18 bells. The church is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico. The impressive towering cathedral, started in 1567 and finished in 1788, blends Baroque, neoclassic and Mexican churugueresque architecture. The building today has five naves and 14 chapels. The Metropolitan Cathedral contains many prized works of art from the colonial era in a variety of artistic styles. Jerónimo de Balbas built and carved the Altar de los Reyes, Altar of Kings, and the Altar del Perdón, Altar of Pardon, in 1737. The Catedral Metropolitana came off the World Monuments Fund's list of 100 Most Endangered Sites in 2000 as a result of an extensive reconstruction of the building's foundation. The School of San Ildefonso was founded by the Jesuits in 1588 to provide accommodation for students of other schools of the order. The building was recovered integrally in 1992. The building lodges murals by Diego Creek, Fermín Revueltas and Ramón Álvaro of the Channel, merciful José Orozco, Fernando Leal and Jean Charlotte. This was where Mexico's muralist tradition began. In 1922, five years after the end of the Mexican Revolution, a group of unknown young leftist Mexican artists were hired to paint their visions of the new nation on the walls of this former Jesuit college. It was one of the first steps towards restoring the city after years of bloodshed and devastation. Among the artists selected were Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Álvaro Ciqueros, who became the three most famous muralists in the country. In Mexico, the famous murals of Diego Rivera depicted the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries as evil, grey-faced beings who subjugated an entire nation. The Plaza de Santo Domingo is located near the Zócala. It's considered the second most important plaza of the country because of its dimensions and the historical buildings surrounding it. It has several sculptures, one of them honouring Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. Nearby is the Church of Santo Domingo, constructed with red tezontal and a façade of quarry stone, considered one of the most representative Baroque-style buildings in Mexico. The 18th-century Baroque Santo Domingo Church, slightly north of the portal, is all that remains of the first Dominican convent in New Spain. The convent building was demolished in 1861 under the reform laws that forced clerics to turn over all religious buildings not used for worship to the government. The Palacio de Bellas Artes is located on the east side of Alameda Park. Construction of this massive neoclassical building began in 1904 on the remains of the Santa Isabel convent, under the Italian architect Buari. Porfirio Díaz had wanted to inaugurate it in 1911, commemorate the 100th anniversary of independence from Spain. It was scheduled to be completed in 1910, the centenary of Mexico's fight for independence. In pre-Hispanic Mexico, in the valley where Mexico City stands, was a lake called Lago Texcoco, which has long since been drained. The Aztecs, long before the Spanish came, dug a series of canals on its edge, whose mud they heaped on the earth around the canals or on anchored reeds atop the water. These plots of land appeared like floating islands called chinampas, hence their name floating gardens. Smaller trajeneros, called chalupas, some call them decorated canoes, come up alongside visitors and continuously harangue them, offering drinks, food, handicrafts and much more. Seemingly everything under the sun is for sale on these floating markets. Some are virtually floating kitchens which offer a complete hot meal. The ingenuity of these floating vendors is endless. The gardens, besides still producing flowers, fruits and vegetables, have become a favourite spot where both locals and tourists come for a few hours to relax in the canals and enjoy their market culture. Today this area, once on the edge of Mexico City, has become engulfed by this gigantic metropolis. There are miles of these canals, of which only 14 kilometres, lined with farmhouses and trees, dominated by the aguachote, are navigable. Every boat on the canal is brightly painted with floral designs in every colour imaginable and carry Mexicans in a holiday mood or glide through the canals with tourists enjoying the outing. In the past the boats were decorated with real flowers, but today, due to the cost and the fast pace of modern life, only paint is used. However, the colourful panorama of these boats cruising the canal creates an image of beauty with a fairyland atmosphere. Across from Xochimilco Cathedral is a plaza where one can buy more handicrafts, but there's better merchandise across the street at the Ruth Public Market. This is where the inhabitants shop. Here it's possible to buy produce, dried chilies, ice cream, juices, meat, fish and clothing and items for baby bautizas, baptisms, such as elaborate christening gowns, floral displays and items relating to the child's patron saint. Built to the design of Lorenzo Rodriguez and consecrated in 1768, the Sagrario Metropolitano is one of the finest examples of Mexican churrigüeresc. A particularly notable feature of the interior is the 1829 high altar by Pedro Patiño X Tolinque, an Indian pupil of Manuel Tolsa, who is also credited with the altar in the chapel of the Virgen de la Rosa. Part of the interior was destroyed by fire and earthquake in the 18th century. The National Museum of Anthropology, one of the most important of its kind in the world, is to be found in the northern section of Chapultepec Park. The importance of the museum lies in its objectives, which are to diffuse pre-Columbian culture and that of present national and international indigenous communities by means of exhibiting artworks of archaeological and ethnographic heritage. To diffuse every aspect related to Mexican anthropology through exhibitions and lectures as well as guided tours. To preserve, record and restore the archaeological and ethnographic collections, which are very important national and international resources. To enrich Mexican cultural heritage by studying, publishing and diffusing the numerous research. The thieves of Christmas 1985 took a third of their booty from the Maya room alone, a sign of how attractive this department is. A large proportion of the burial objects from Palenque, including a mask in jade mosaic and various objects in gold, mother of pearl, turquoise and coral from the sacrificial well at Chichen Itza, were recovered in 1989. The Mexico room describes the Aztec culture from the coming of the Chichimex through to the fall of Tenochtitlan. This room contains the highlight of the collection, the stone of the fifth sun, also wrongly described as the calendar stone. Other notable exhibits include the Tizoc stone, manuscripts, maps and sculptures, god of love, dancing and poetry, a headdress made of quetzal feathers and in fact only a reproduction. The four phases of the culture of the plateau of Teotihuacan are illustrated by examples of artistic techniques of various kinds, particularly in the field of ceramics. Note particularly the sculptures of various deities. A section of the Quezzalcoatl temple from Teotihuacan has been restored in its original colourings and decoration. There's also a reconstruction of the Fresco, Paradise of Bloodlock, showing the souls of warriors and drowning men frolicking together. In the states of Mexico, each state, as well as specific geographic and cultural regions within states, cultivate a particular dance and folkloric style that's disseminated across the country via community, university and professional performance groups. These are the bailes regionales. Each regional tradition reflects the rich cultural heritage and unique characteristics of each state or region represented. Characteristics unique to each region are reflected in the music, dance and costuming. Certain regions reflect stronger indigenous influences than others, while others present very Europeanized costuming and flamenco-influenced fancy steps, hairstyles and movement. Most regions fall somewhere in between on the spectrum of indigenous European influences. The capital of Mexico, an incredible city, old, the world's largest city, the financial, political and cultural centre of Mexico, the nightlife capital of Mexico, one of the greatest cities, huge, one of the world's most difficult cities to drive in, filled with exciting things to see and do, sinking, an energetic metropolis or just an incredible place to visit.