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Often described as one of the most beautiful post offices in the world, the Palacio Postal, or Postal Palace, in the historic centre of Mexico City is a richly ornamented building that still functions as a working post office more than a century after it opened. Completed in 1907 during the rule of Porfirio Diaz, an era marked by ambitious public buildings in European styles, the palace was designed by the same Italian architect, Adamo Boari, who would later begin the neighbouring Palace of Fine Arts, and it was built by the Mexican engineer Gonzalo Garita. Its exterior, in a lavish eclectic style blending elements of Spanish, Gothic and Renaissance design in pale carved stone, is matched by an interior of remarkable splendour, where a grand double staircase of bronze and marble rises beneath a glass-roofed hall, the metalwork cast in Italy and the whole space gleaming with gilded ironwork, ornate lamps and fine detailing more befitting a palace than a post office. Damaged in the great earthquake of 1985, the building was carefully restored to its original magnificence. As well as continuing to handle mail, it houses a small postal museum and serves as a venue for cultural events, and its opulent interior makes it a popular stop for visitors exploring the historic centre. The Postal Palace belongs to the same ambitious building programme of the Porfirio Diaz era that produced the neighbouring Palace of Fine Arts, an age when the government sought to give the capital monuments to rival those of Europe, and the two buildings, both begun by the Italian architect Adamo Boari, stand close together as expressions of that aspiration. The exterior, carved from a pale stone in a rich eclectic manner that mingles Spanish Renaissance, Gothic and Venetian elements, is matched inside by an interior of extraordinary refinement, dominated by a sweeping double staircase of cast bronze and marble that branches and rejoins beneath a high glass ceiling, the ironwork, lamps, counters and grilles all wrought with great delicacy and originally cast in Italy. That such opulence was lavished on a working post office is part of the building's charm, and it continues to function as one to this day, its ornate halls still busy with the everyday business of the mail. The great earthquake of 1985, which devastated parts of the city, damaged the structure, and a meticulous restoration returned it to its former glory. Beyond its postal role the building houses a small museum on the history of the mail and hosts cultural events, and its spectacular interior makes it one of the more rewarding stops for visitors wandering the historic centre.