Sightseeing tour of the historic center of Mexico City.
During this tour you will see the ruins of the ancient Aztec pyramids and visit the main square of the Zocalo country, where the buildings of the colonial era are located – silent witnesses of the history of Mexico, one of which is the National Palace – the former residence of Cortes, viceroys of New Spain, and now – the President of Mexico. Here you will see a gallery of frescoes by the famous muralist of the 20th century, Diego Rivera, telling us about the history of the country, starting from pre-Columbian times.
You will visit the Cathedral, built in 1573, an example of the Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassicism.
You will also pass along the main avenue of the Mexican capital – Paseo de la Reforma, built on the model of the Parisian Champs Elysees by Maximiliano Habsburg – Emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in 1864. On the avenue you will see historical monuments, the most important of which is the Independence Monument. This is a fifty-meter column crowned with the “Angel” of independence, which has become the hallmark of the city. Also, on the avenue is the skyscraper Torre Mayor, the former tallest building in Latin America.
Sumaya Museum.
This privately owned museum opened its doors in 1994 and cost about $70 million to build. It is named after the wife of Carsol Slim, the richest man in Mexico. The museum has a large collection of European art from the 15th to the 18th centuries. You can also see works of neo-Spanish and South American art, the Rodin collection – the second largest in the world after France, the work of Pacasso, Dali, Siqueiros and Diego Rivera.
Shochimilko, the house-museum of Frida Kahlo and the house-museum of Leon Trotsky.
The Xochimilco area is located 18 km south of the city center; here, canals, chinampas, have been preserved since the time of the Aztecs, reminiscent of the remains of Lake Texcoco, on which the city of Mexico City was built. It is nice to ride on colorful boats called “trajineras” (trajineras) to live music performed by traditional mariaches (mariaches).
Frida Kahlo House Museum, or “blue house”, where Frida and her husband Diego Rivera lived from 1924 to 1954. Here you can see the personal belongings of Frida and Diego, several paintings by Frida from different periods of creativity, their touching letters to each other, national costumes worn by Frida are also exhibited. In the garden of the “blue house” you can see many monuments of ancient Mexican culture that Diego and Frida have been collecting all their lives.
House-Museum of Leon Trotsky – in this house the theorist of the “permanent revolution” and one of the leaders of the October Revolution of 1917, the first People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR spent the last years of his life. In 1929, Trotsky was deprived by Stalin of the citizenship of the USSR and expelled from the country, and after several years of wandering in 1937, Trotsky arrived in Mexico. In Mexico City, Trotsky was greeted very warmly, he communicated with representatives of the local intelligentsia, including Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, next to whom he decided to settle. In 1940, Trotsky was killed by the NKVD agent Ramon Mercader in his own house, and his grave is located in the courtyard of the same house. The museum exhibits the works of Trotsky, household items, photographs, letters.
Taxco and Xochicalco
Taxco is the famous “silver city”, which is located halfway between Mexico City and Acapulco. This unusually cozy, charming colonial-style city gives the impression of a toy: narrow cobbled streets, white houses with red tiled roofs, fences strewn with bright bougainvilleas, charming locals. Many shops and stalls offer a variety of and sometimes simply incredible silverware, for women there is a temptation to spend all the available cash.
Xochicalco – translated as “place (or house) of flowers”, the most picturesque archaeological area, which dates back to the period from 650 to 900 AD. During its heyday, the city was one of the largest cultural centers. The heyday of Xochicalco as a political, religious and commercial center fell on the period following the collapse of the great states of Central America, such as Teotihuacan, Monte Alban, Palenque and Tikal. Here you can see the Great Pyramid dedicated to the God of rain Tlaloc, the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, the Acropolis, three fields for the ritual ball game, Temazcal and the Observatory. In the temple of the Feathered Serpent, there are images of this deity, the style of which clearly speaks of the influence of the art of Teotihuacan and the Maya.
