Tlatelolco, Mexico City, Mexico
Today I had booked the first of the three day tours. This was a supersaver two day combo I found on Viator for $75 USD taking me to six places over two days. Today would be the Plaza Tres Culturas, Guadalupe Shrine, and Teotihuacan Pyramid complex.
Meeting was the the Bellas Artas opera house at 8.45am. Luckily Mexico is one hour behind so 9.45 local time for me so I had time to sleep in. I left the hotel by 7.50 and it was quite chilly in the morning.
Across from the Opera House is the impressive art deco post office. First I had to figure out where the bus was going to arrive so waited for other tourists to arrive since I was early. Conveniently we all picked up in one spot rather than other tours that waste time driving around the city picking up passengers. Our guide was Cesar and the bus was divided with English and Spanish speakers with their own guide.
The Plaza Tres Culturas is a few blocks north, I could have walked but why bother if it's part of the tour. The three cultures is for Aztec ruins of Tlatelolco, the Spanish Cathedral, and the modern apartments.
The ruins are from a 1330 water city but the locals were slaughtered when the Spanish arrived. In the 1960s there was also a revolt when students murdered families in the apartments to take the high vantage points to fire guns down below onto the army.
The church interior was simple and we had to wait about 20 mins in the bus for the larger Spanish group to return. A short ride away was the Guadalupe shrine. Rather than heading over we wasted about half an hour at a gift and religious store where people could buy candles for the shrine.
I thought it would be one church but it is actually a complex of churches and I would have preferred more time here than the places we had spent wasting waiting for the group. There is the Old and New Basilica's as well as other churches around the site. There is a hilltop church where the Virgin Mary appeared but we had no time to go up.
The Old Basilica had been closed for some years as the structure was sinking into the ground. Some of the architecture around the site still appears crooked.
The interior had stunning artwork. Around were other Churches we didnt visit and I would have preferred more time to.
We went to the far end of the site where there was a circular domed building. The tilework was very Spanish and reminiscent of Gaudi style buildings. This originally housed a well from a holy spring.
The interior dome was made up of angels around the interior. We then walked back to the New Basilica.
It reminded me of the Cave in the Rock Church in Helsinki. There was a moving walkway at the front to take crowds past an image of the Virgin Mary and a large cross. Finally outside a group was gathered to have a blessing with holy water.
This was an interesting site rushed thru with the tour. It's in the city so perhaps worth visiting on your own by bus or taxi.
Fiona
2019-02-21
Great read. Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing.