Unspecified/General

The great square at the heart of Mexico City, officially the Plaza de la Constitucion but known to all as the Zocalo, is one of the largest public squares in the world and the symbolic centre of the nation, a vast paved expanse that has been the focus of civic and ceremonial life since the time of the Aztecs. The square stands on the site of the sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, and after the Spanish conquest it was laid out anew as the centre of the colonial city, surrounded by the buildings of religious and political power that still frame it today. On its eastern side rises the National Palace, seat of the federal executive, its walls adorned within by the sweeping murals of Diego Rivera; to the north stands the Metropolitan Cathedral, the largest in the Americas, built over two centuries on the ruins of the Aztec temples; and nearby lie the excavated remains of the Templo Mayor itself. The name Zocalo, meaning plinth or base, derives from a monument planned for the square in the nineteenth century whose pedestal was built but never crowned with a statue, and the term has since spread to the main squares of towns across the country. A giant national flag is raised and lowered in the square each day with military ceremony, and the Zocalo serves as the stage for political rallies, religious festivals, concerts, art installations and protests, as well as for the seasonal celebrations and decorations that draw great crowds, making it the living heart of Mexican public life. The sheer scale of the Zocalo is part of its power, and standing within it a visitor is surrounded by more than five centuries of history compressed into the buildings that enclose it. Beneath the paving lie the foundations of the Aztec ceremonial centre, and at one corner the excavated Templo Mayor reveals the twin pyramid that stood at the heart of Tenochtitlan; the Metropolitan Cathedral, raised over generations on that conquered ground, visibly leans where the soft former lakebed has caused it to settle, while the National Palace incorporates stone from the palace of Moctezuma. The history of the nation has played out here, from colonial proclamations to the declaration of independence and countless demonstrations and celebrations down to the present. The daily ceremony of raising and lowering an enormous national flag draws onlookers, and the square is regularly transformed for concerts, art installations and the spectacular decorations of festivals such as the Day of the Dead, when vast crowds gather.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Mexico City, Mexico