City of Relics

The city’s historic district lies at the point where the city was born on Lake Texcoco. No lake exists today, but evidence of the ancient water foundation shows itself in the angles of some buildings gently leaning this way and that.   Work is done continually to combat the city’s sinking of about 4 inches per year.

Beside the Templo Mayor ruins, the dominant element of the historic district is Zocalo or Plaza de Constitution as is also called.  This 61,000 square-foot plaza distinguished by what might be a house-size Mexican flag, has been a gathering place for thousands of people for ceremonies and important events since Aztec times.   Some of the city’s most important buildings are nearby:  the  Metropolitan Cathedral the National Palace,  Federal buildings, and the star of the show, El Templo Mayor site just off the plaza.

It was Sunday, February 5,  Constitution Day when we visited the historic district.  While the holiday is celebrated on the following Monday, locals outnumbered the tourists easily on this celebrated three-day weekend. It could be that this site commands a crowd every day but we found it a very busy place that day.

Drum beats, glimpses of colorful costumes, and a standing audience caught our attention.  As throngs of people watched they were mesmerized by troops of concheros dressed in body paint, macaw feather headdresses, bells, and pelts as they performed a traditional dance to thundering drum beats in clouds of smoke created by burning fragrant resin.

The dance was absolutely captivating and among other things is meant to symbolize elements of the earth like the sun, earth, wind, and fire.  Some people received individual “treatments” of herbs and a heavy dose of smoke.  We guessed the intent was to lay on a blessing or to exorcise demons.

After we broke ourselves away from the performance and made the requisite appreciative contribution to the hat, we joined the line to enter the archeological dig site and museum of the Templo Mayor.  It was our first introduction to ancient Aztec temple pyramids. 

The Templo Mayor is a fairly new discovery.  In 1978 during construction to expand an electrical station, workers found the first buried relic.  Archeologists took over and ultimately uncovered the huge Templo Mayor which turned out to be the main Mexica or Aztec temple of Tenochtitlan.

The city of Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, and the grand temple was established in 1325 on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.  As Tenochtitlan grew, the lake was slowly filled in and the city expanded with mud, stone, and wooden piers.  Almost every 50 years or so, most often with a change in rulers and also with repairs due to flooding, the temple was expanded and rebuilt, section by section, layer after layer until finally there were seven sections.  The City and the Templo were active for two hundred years until the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 when the lands controlled by the Aztecs became part of the Spanish empire.

The excavation is quite large and takes a while to cover but the accompanying museum containing actual artifacts of the temple is among the most modern, interesting, well-designed museums we’ve encountered.  It is a must-visit site in Mexico City.

Our next important visit was to the Basilica de la Guadalupe.  Another enormous important site set on the north side of the city is one of the most visited Catholic Shrines in the world with 18 to 20 million visitors and pilgrims each year.  It is considered the second most important Catholic shrine after Vatican City.

Legend says the religious site was inspired by a vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe, or the Virgin Mary, who appeared to Juan Diego, an indigent peasant, as he made his way to mass on Tepeyac Hill in December 1531.  Paraphrasing information on the Basilica’s website:

The Virgin Mary asked that a shrine be built on the site where she would bless those who called upon her.   When Diego passed the request to the church, the Bishop demanded proof of his vision.  Juan Diego returned to the hill, where roses were blooming, though it was almost winter. He picked some of the flowers and brought them in his cloak to the Bishop. When he opened his cloak, the flowers fell out and an image of the Blessed Mother was imprinted on it. The Bishop then gave his blessing, and a chapel was built on the hill.

The 500-year-old cloak imprinted with the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary received by Juan Diego miraculously shows no sign of decay and hangs in the huge circular basilica above the altar of the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe for all to see today.   The new Basilica commands attention not only because of its size but also with its cornucopia roofline and round, circular shape.  This huge round church was built to accommodate more visitors with its 50,000-seat capacity and to showcase the imprinted cape above its huge altar.

The park-like property includes four other chapels, a modern museum, a tall bell tower with an animatron story of the legend, rose gardens, and huge gathering plazas.  The Old Basilica which replaced the original shrine still commands a prime spot on the property and now houses its orginal cathedral and the Guadalupe Basicilica Museum.  It is this basicilica that was replaced by the new round Basilica. Scaffolding and construction equipment surround the small but nearby Chapel of the Indios. Repair is currently underway to restore its visibly obvious sinking foundation.

In 2022 after the pandemic and during the annual Festival of Guadalupe celebration in December, 11 million pilgrims passed through this huge spiritual place with a record-breaking 5 million in the place on the 12^th of December, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Because of its size and many chapel elements, we returned to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe a second day and were glad we did.

Because of its physical size and number of buildings, chapels and gardens, we returned to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe a second day and were glad we did.

While these rare, and astounding historic sites are highly important and very educational, visiting them is hard on the body.  Crowds, especially families with children far too young for such outings, must be courteously navigated, facts and details need to be read and understood, and a lot of standing and slow walking is required – the worst!  Almost every day Stan and I walk a lot.  A brisk five-mile walk does not bother us at all – uh-hum, we do end the day feeling very tired.  However, standing and slowly meandering through a museum, a palace, or for heaven’s sake, ancient ruins for hours is pure torture!

Maybe we will find something a little less slow-paced and less studious to do tomorrow!