The DF Experience Part 2

After a delicious lunch at Hotel Gillow, we walked to the Palacio National (National Palace) in the Plaza de la Constitucion (main square) of Mexico City.  We were greeted by a very helpful tour guide who explained the beautiful murals painted by Diego Rivera.  The first mural we viewed was painted in the main staircase of the Palace.  Rivera used this mural to provide a visual representation of Mexican history beginning with the reign of the Aztec empire in 1520s through the beginning of the first World War in the 1930s.  The mural was painted in a series of panels that detail both significant events and people in Mexico’s history as well as Rivera’s own political ideas and predictions.

The first panel depicts the Aztec Empire.  In this panel, the Aztec culture is shown with bright colors and the Aztec god, Quetzequatal, is painted in the center with a green headdress. 

The next series of panels show the arrival of the Spaniards, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Mexican Revolution.  Significant figures pictured in these panels include: Miguel de Hidalgo, Emiliano Zapata, La Melinche, and Hernan Cortez among others.

In the final panels, Rivera’s painting shows some of the events occurring in Mexico and the world in the late 1920s to early 1930s.  These events included the corruption of the church and government as well as the development of the atomic bomb.  Rivera included Communist symbols as well as images depicting the rising Nazi party.

After visiting the Palacio National, we walked to the Catedral Metropolitana de la Asuncion de Maria (Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary).  This cathedral is the largest cathedral in the Americas and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico.  The cathedral was incredibly beautiful.  One aspect many of us found interesting was the pendulum suspended from the ceiling in the center of the cathedral.  Since Mexico City was built on swampy land, the foundations of heavy stone buildings are prone to sinking.  Engineers use the pendulum to gage the lean of the building and will “prop” it up as necessary.

Across from the cathedral, in the main plaza, there was a concert held by Yo Soy 132 (I am 132) a group of students advocating for increased transparency in government.  Since the Mexican Presidential elections will be held on July 1^st, there have been a number of rallies for the various political parties.  During our afternoon free time, a number of us attended the concert and perused the shops in downtown.

We met for dinner at Casa de Azulejos. This was the restaurant where Emiliano Zapata and General Villa ate before they took the National Palace in 1914 during the Mexican Revolution.  We're looking forward to another day of touring Mexico City tomorrow!