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Keith Schooler
Mexico City 2019 Photos
Oscar and I spent two weeks in and around Mexico City over the holidays in 2019.
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View down Paseo de la Reforma of Chapultepec Castle from in front of our hotel
Our hotel, the Hotel Marquis Reforma, dwarfed by new skyscrapers
Glass domes seen from our hotel room
View down Paseo de la Reforma of Chapultepec Castle from in front of our hotel
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El Palacio de Hierro (The Iron Palace), an upscale department store, built in 1920.
Ayuntamiento de la Ciudad De México (City Hall)
Metropolitan Cathedral at night
El Palacio de Hierro (The Iron Palace), an upscale department store, built in 1920.
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Mexico City - Paseo de la Reforma & Bellas Artes
2019-Dec-22 - El Paseo de la Reforma and the area around the Bellas Artes.
Mexico City - Zocalo & Historico Centro
2019-Dec-23 - Exploring the area around the Zocalo (main plaza) and Historico Centro (historic colonial center of the city).
Metropolitan Cathedral from the Zocalo.
The main cathedral is on the left and the tabernacle (Parish of the Metropolitan Tabernacle) is on the right.
East entrance to the tabernacle
Chapel of the Holy Angels
Metropolitan Cathedral from the Zocalo.
The main cathedral is on the left and the tabernacle (Parish of the Metropolitan Tabernacle) is on the right.
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Chapultepec Park main gate
Approach to the Monument to the Boy Heroes and Chapultepec Castle.
Chapultepec Lake
Chapultepec Park main gate
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Mexico City - Metropolitan Cathedral
2019-Dec-23 - The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heavens, built from 1573 to 1813. Emperor Maximilian (about whom John Winkelman and I wrote an opera) was crowned here in 1864.
Mexico City - Chapultepec
2019-Dec-24 - Chapultepec Park and Castle. The park is 1,695 acres, containing the castle, lakes, and museums. The building of the castle was started in 1785 and has been used as a stately home, the military academy, and from 1882 to 1939 the president's residence. From 1864 to 1867 Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlotta resided there as the imperial palace. Chapultepec is an Aztec word meaning "Grasshopper Hill".
National Museum of Art
Nezahualcoyotl (1402 – 1472)
Nezahualcoyotl (1402 – 1472), ruler of the city-state of Texcoco from 1429 to 1472. In the Garden of the Triple Alliance on the outside wall of the Museum of the Mexican Army and Air Force "Bethlemitas".
The BBVA tower makes very innovative use of lighting on New Year's Eve
National Museum of Art
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Old basilica (built 1695-1709)
Entrance to old basilica
Oiriginal shrine (1660)
Oiriginal shrine (1660) on the top of the hill where people believe the virgin Mary appeard to Juan Diego in 1531.
Old basilica (built 1695-1709)
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Mexico City - Historico Centro
2019-Dec-25 - Exploring more of the historic colonial center of the city.
Mexico City - Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
2019-Dec-26 - The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There is the old basilica (1709), which is sinking along with the rest of Mexico City, and the new basilica (1976).
Palace ruins
Ancient decoration
Throughout the site one sees where small rocks were placed in the mortar joints as a decoration. This motif was replicated in Spanish colonial buildings all around Puebla as well.
Decorations of the water serpent and the earth monster on the Pyramid of the Temple of Quetzacoatl
Palace ruins
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Hotel Boutique Casareyna
In Puebla we stayed at the Hotel Boutique Casareyna. It was created from the ruins of 16th, 17th and 18th century houses where local workers lived and which were surrounded by different factories. It first opened in May 2007 with 10 suites. In 2016, the last phase of expansion was completed with 46 suites. Photos of the property before work began are worth looking at on their website https://www.casareyna.mx/copia-de-galeria.
The stairs to our room
Paian artisinal market at NE corner of Ave 2 Ote & Calle 6 Nte
Hotel Boutique Casareyna
In Puebla we stayed at the Hotel Boutique Casareyna. It was created from the ruins of 16th, 17th and 18th century houses where local workers lived and which were surrounded by different factories. It first opened in May 2007 with 10 suites. In 2016, the last phase of expansion was completed with 46 suites. Photos of the property before work began are worth looking at on their website https://www.casareyna.mx/copia-de-galeria.
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Teotihuacan
2019-Dec-26 - Teotihuacan, an ancient Mesoamerican city located northeast of Mexico City, established around 100 BCE, with major monuments constructed until about 250 CE. The city was abandoned sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries CE. This was long before the Toltecs or the Aztecs. The site covers 32 square miles.
Puebla
2019-Dec-27 - We spent the weekend in Puebla, about 80 miles east of Mexico City. Puebla was founded in 1531 by the Spanish as a halfway point between the capital of Mexico City and the port of Veracruz.
Now that's a treehouse!
San Gabriel Archangel Convent
Overlooking San Gabriel Archangel Convent from Our Lady of Remedies Church atop the Great Pyramid of Cholula
I love the name of this jazz club
Now that's a treehouse!
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Artist's conception of the Great Pyramid of Cholula
Model of the Great Pyramid of Cholula with the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Remedies
Building F and the Church of Our Lady of Remedies
Artist's conception of the Great Pyramid of Cholula
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Cholula
2019-Dec-28 - Cholula was settled between 500 and 200 BCE, continuing to grow during the Classic period from 200 - 800 CE. When the Spanish arrived, Cholula was a major religious and mercantile center. In 1519 the Spanish massacred up to 6,000 Chololtecs and built a European city on the site.
Cholula - Pyramid & Archaeological Site
2019-Dec-28 - The Great Pyramid of Cholula is the archaeological site of the largest pyramid in the world by volume. It was built in four stages from the 3rd century BCE to the 9th century CE. It is mostly unexcavated, so it looks like a big hill topped by a Catholic church. The pyramid covers 54 acres.
Church of Our Lady of Remedies
Church of Our Lady of Remedies
Model of the church atop the pyramid
Church of Our Lady of Remedies
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Cholula - Sanctuario de la Virgen de los Remedios
2019-Dec-28 - Our Lady of Remedies Church in Cholula was built atop the Tlachihualtepetl pyramid in Cholula between 1574 and 1629. That church was destroyed in an 1864 earthquake and the current church was built in 1874.
Fort Loreto
Fort Loreto and cable car
Fort Loreto
Fort Loreto
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Puebla - Fort Loreto
2019-Dec-29 - Fort Loreto in Puebla is the site of the Battle of Puebla, when the Mexicans defeated the French during the French occupation, on May 5, 1862, now celebrated as Cinco de Mayo.
Gate to the convent complex
Templo de San Gabriel
Templo de San Gabriel (started in 1549); Capilla Real (Royal Chapel of the Natives) in the background (started in 1540)
Remnants of ancient fresco
Gate to the convent complex
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Cholula - Templo de San Gabriel
2019-Dec-28 - The San Gabriel Franciscan Convent or Friary is a church and friary in Cholula, built in the 1540s. It is one of the largest Franciscan friaries in Mexico. A temple to the god Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent) was destroyed to build this church on the site and replace the previous religion.
Stained-glass window in the Pasaje del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall Passage)
Stained-glass window in the Pasaje del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall Passage)
Stairway in the courtyard of Stieglitz Cafe
Stained-glass window in the Pasaje del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall Passage)
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Puebla
2019-Dec-29 - We explored more of the historic center of Puebla. Soon after its foundation, Puebla was well known for its fine ceramics, especially for the style that would be called Talavera. The glazing technique was first used for the tiles that still decorate many of the buildings in this city.
Cathedral dome and tower
Cathedral domes and bells
Open confessional
Cathedral dome and tower
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Puebla Cathedral
2019-Dec-29 - Puebla Cathedral - building started in 1575, completed in 1690.
Welcome to Coyoacan!
Welcome to Coyoacan! In the Plaza Hidalgo.
Painting "No Graffiti" on the wall apparently doesn't work.
Welcome to Coyoacan!
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Mexico City - Coyoacan
2020-Jan-2 - Coyoacán is a municipality (alcaldía) of Mexico City and the former village which is now the borough’s “historic center.” The name comes from Nahuatl (the Aztec language) and most likely means “place of coyotes.” Hernán Cortés and the Spanish used the area as a headquarters during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and made it the first capital of New Spain between 1521 and 1523. It remained completely independent of Mexico City through the colonial period into the 19th century. In 1857, the area was incorporated into the Federal District and became a borough in 1928. The urban sprawl of Mexico City reached the borough in the mid 20th century, turning farms, former lakes and forests into developed areas, but many of the former villages have kept their original layouts, plazas and narrow streets and have conserved structures built from the 16th to the early 20th centuries.
Church courtyard from Calle Cinco de Mayo
Main church building and tower
Ceiling and balcony of the Rosario Chapel
Church courtyard from Calle Cinco de Mayo
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Puebla - Templo de Santo Domingo
2019-Dec-29 - The Church of Santo Domingo de Guzman in Puebla was the church of a Dominican monastery (no longer active), completed in 1611. Attached to it is the Capilla del Rosario, built in 1690 in honor of the Virgin of the Rosary. It is one of the most elaborately decorated Baroque chapels in Mexico. The walls and dome are completely coated with ornate sculpture in gold leaf and plaster. On the walls, golden vines form the frames of six paintings depicting the mysteries of the rosary.
The Frida Kahlo house is obviously VERY popular.
House courtyard
House courtyard with the Aztec pyramid where Diego Rivera displayed part of his collection of pre-Columbian art.
Frida's night bedroom
Frida's ashes are in the pre-Hispanic urn on the dressing table, which has a toad design. This is a reference to Diego Rivera, who referred to himself as a "toad-frog".
The Frida Kahlo house is obviously VERY popular.
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Mexico City - Frida Kahlo House
2020-Jan-2 - The Frida Kahlo museum, known as La Casa Azul (the Blue House), was the home of Frida Kahlo and is located in the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City. The building was Kahlo's birthplace, the home where she grew up, lived with her husband Diego Rivera for a number of years, and where she later died in a room on the upper floor in 1954.
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