Exploring the Zocalo

This is the spot where legend says the Aztecs saw the eagle on a cactus, with a serpent in its beak

Today was the day to explore the Zocalo. The Zoca-what? The Zocalo!

The Zocalo is the historic core of Mexico City. It is where the Aztecs built the religious center of their capital city of Tenochtitlan. Hernando Cortes destroyed Tenochtitlan in its entirety and built the capital of Spain's Mexico on the city, over the ruins of the former Aztec city.

I was supposed to take one of those "free walking tours" where you pay only by tipping your guide. We were to meet at the Palacio de Belles Artes. Look for the pink umbrella! Well, I saw the pink umbrella and was told that there was no English language tour (even though I had booked one in advance) and only Spanish. Well, with free tours, you get what you pay for. So I organized my own "free" walking tour of the Zocalo.

First stop, was this interesting looking church.

This is the Templo de San Felipe Neri.

It barely rates a mention on any maps, but it was beautiful inside.

I was walking the extremely crowded pedestrian-only street Avenida Francisco I. Madero to get from the Palacio de Bellas Artes to the Zocalo.  The walk was about five or six short blocks. And soon I arrived at the Zocalo.

This is the Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México, the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral.

The exterior is absolutely gorgeous. Built with the stones that built the Templo Mayor of the Aztecs' Tenochtitlan. And before you complain, let me leave you with one word: recycling. Recycling is a good thing, isn't it?

 

This is a giant Mexican flag on the Zocalo. Things were happening on the Zocalo. Maybe Christmas related. Maybe the COVID. Maybe to prevent anti-government demonstrations from happening here. But most of the Zocalo was closed off and you could only walk around the perimeter.

But at the south end of the square is this monument:

This is a monument built to mark the exact spot where, according to legend, the Aztecs saw an eagle on a cactus with a serpent in its beak -- eagles are fraught with symbolism and the snake -- well, that's the earthly representation of Quetzalcoatl. From this vision, the Aztecs decided this was the place to build their capital city of Tenochtitlan. The monument incorporates water. I'm not sure if the symbolism was intended, but given that Tenochtitlan was a speck of land in the middle of a huge lake, it is appropriate.

Time for a look-see inside the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral:

Very nice.

But not "knock your sox off" awesome.

The socks stayed on. In fairness, that was a side chapel.

Outside the cathedral was some sort of indigenous ceremony of some sort:

I am guessing that the gentleman in native garb going over with smoke the body of the man with the outstretched arms was some sort of purification ceremony. But it looked like something TSA would do. Only the uniform of the Aztec TSA agent was far cooler than that worn by actual TSA.

Next up, the opportunity to explore the active archaeological site at the northeast end of the Zocalo.

A map of Tenochtitlan! I love maps and I especially love giant relief maps. So of course I snapped a photo.

And this is a rendering of the religious center -- which was right on this site -- for Tenochtitlan.

And this is the re-creation of Tenochtitlan with the cathedral built with its own stone:

Juxtaposed!

They do let you walk through this archaeological site. Well, at least part of it:

At least something is not shut down because of the COVID.

And here be me:

Among the ruins.

And we meet a conejo, otherwise known as the rabbit:

I don't understand this "rabbits as gods" thing. Fertility gods, maybe. Behold, your god of fecundity!

And here is a serpent head:

And, by now, if you've been following my Mexico City adventures, you now know this:

Snakehead = Quetzalcoatl.

Let's go back into the main part of the cathedral while we're here:

Magnificent altar piece:

And now down the other side:

This is the main aisle down the center:

And this is the outside of the exit door:

Again, spectacular amazing beautiful exterior with a very nice interior that falls a little short of magnificent.  A++ exterior. B+ inside.

And here is Saint John Paul II:

And here is the exterior with cactus garden:

And, soon enough, we are back at the Palacio de Belles Artes.

I have completed my free walking tour -- well -- not quite free -- I did have to pay a token amount for entrance into the Templo Mayor archaeological site (80 pesos if I remember correctly, which is about $4.00 U.S.)

 

Thus concludes the walking tour of the Zocalo. Now it is time for a long walk back to my hotel. It was only about 5km.