Colonia del Valle
Encyclopedia
Colonia del Valle is a neighborhood in the Benito Juarez borough
Benito Juárez, D.F.
Benito Juárez is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. It is a largely residential area, located to the south of historic center of Mexico City, although there are pressures for areas to convert to commercial use. It was named after Benito Juárez, president in...
of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. The city includes "...a great number of parks, vast and tree-lined streets, prestigious shopping malls, and some city landmarks...". Del Valle neighborhood is bounded by the streets of Viaducto Miguel Alemán
Viaducto Miguel Alemán
Viaducto Miguel Alemán is a crosscutting freeway, opened in September 1950, that runs east-west across the middle of Mexico City. In the center of the road is a river encased in cement to control flooding...
to the north, Cuauhtémoc and Universidad to the east, Rio Mixcoac - Barranca del Muerto to the south and Insurgentes Avenue to the west.
Adjacent neighborhoods include Nápoles, Ciudad de los Deportes, Nochebuena and San Borja to the west, Escandón to the northwest, Roma Sur and Piedad Narvarte to the north, Narvarte, Vértiz Narvarte and Letrán Valle to the east, and Tlacomecatl del Valle, Miguel Alemán, Xoco and Santa Cruz Atoyac to the south.
Origin and development
The beginning of the 20th century initiated the division of the ranches cultivated with alfalfa and fruit trees, giving rise to the area, named as Colonia Americana (EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: American neighborhood). These farms were the most popular and loved, Tlacoquemécatl (where the Chapel of the Good Lord Firm and its park are located), Santa Anita and San Borja. Some neighborhood streets are named after these ranchos and their fruit trees, others after Mexican philanthropists.
While serving as a streetcar route from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to Coyoacán
Coyoacán
Coyoacán refers to one of the sixteen boroughs of the Federal District of Mexico City as well as the former village which is now the borough’s “historic center.” The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means “place of coyotes,” when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic village on the southern shore...
it developed slowly until 1920, when it expanded and the Avenida de los Insurgentes
Avenida de los Insurgentes
Avenida de los Insurgentes , sometimes known simply as Insurgentes, is the longest avenue in Mexico City and said to be the longest in the world with a length of on a north-south axis across the city...
was paved. Large-scale home and mansion construction started. That marked the development of the area, to which was added monument construction and green areas; one is the Paque Hundido, built on a former sand mine.
In the 1960s the area was as fully developed as many other neighborhoods of equal purchasing power on its borders. Commercial development was inevitable. This included two major events, the opening of Liverpool Insurgentes in 1962 and the first shopping center in the country, University Plaza, in 1969.
In 1978 the decision to build the road axes transformed the neighborhood radically and permanently, from quiet streets to a river of asphalt, axes 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 south crossing from east to west and 1, 2 and 3 do west from south to north. This resulted in many families looking for quieter places to live and began the inexorable process of redeveloping the land. Mansions were replaced by apartment buildings, offices or schools.
Architecture
The architectural style developed in the area includes large mansions inCalifornian mission revival
Mission Revival Style architecture
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....
Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style and, to a lesser extent, surviving examples of Porfiriato. At the end of the 1960s many small skyscrapers, both commercial and residential, were built, making the area one of the most densely populated of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Housing complexes were also built.
Currently the diversity of architectural styles and the population are still developing, but there is a wish to recover household spaces and family activities.
The neighborhood architectural styles range from colonial to contemporary. It houses churches such as the Temple of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and buildings dating from the period of colonization and conquest between park Tlacoquemécatl including the Temple of San Lorenzo and the Xochimanca, cultural areas and parks like the Sunken Park or Mariscal Sucre Park, the French Kiosk, art galleries, libraries, auditoriums Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros
Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros
The Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros is a cultural, political and social facility located in Mexico City as part of the World Trade Center Mexico City...
, Plaza México
Plaza México
The Plaza México, situated in Mexico City, is the world's largest bullring. This 48,000-seat facility is usually dedicated to bullfighting, but many boxing fights have been held there as well, including Julio César Chávez's third bout with Frankie Randall...
, and Estadio Azul
Estadio Azul
The Estadio Azul, is a 35,000-seat stadium located in Mexico City. This sports facility is currently used for association football matches and previously for American football. It is the home of Mexican football club Cruz Azul; it has been also home for Atlante F.C...
stadium.
Religious buildings
The religious structures found in the Del Valle include the Parish of the Most Pure Heart of Mary at the corner of Gabriel Mancera number 415. It was built in the early 20th century. In 1996 several scenes of the film Romeo + Juliet were filmed at the church. Mexican singer Luis MiguelLuis Miguel
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel and is often referred to as "El Sol de México"...
was baptized there.
The Good Lord Parish Office, located in Tlacoquemécatl park, dates from the 16th century. Temple Santo Tomás Actipan, built in 1897, is located at the confluence of the streets of Buffalo and Tiger. The Temple of San Lorenzo Xochimanca, located in the park of the same name, was built in the 16th century. The Temple of Santa Monica, located at No. 126 Strawberry Street opposite the park of San Lorenzo, was built in 1962. The Parish of Divine Providence in Adolfo Prieto street was constructed between 1968 and 1974.
Tourism & Shopping
Del Valle is a landmark neighborhood within the city and a tourism center.Plaza Universidad shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
is located in the neighborhood as is the World Trade Center Mexico
World Trade Center México
The World Trade Center Mexico City is a building complex located in Mexico City, Mexico. Its most famous and recognizable feature is the 52-story, 207m high Torre WTC, the third tallest building in Mexico City , or fourth when measured by its 191m roof height...
.
Education
Within the Del Valle are two of the oldest educational institutions in the country; the College and Institute of Mexico and its Centro Universitario Mexico, and the Colegio Simón Bolívar. Graduates of these schools include Octavio PazOctavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
and Germán Dehesa
Germán Dehesa
Germán Dehesa was a Mexican journalist, academic and writer.Dehesa was born in Mexico City on July 1, 1944. He studied both Hispanic literature and chemical engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico....
.
Trasportation
Major roads running through the neighborhood include: Insurgentes, Cuauhtemoc, Northern Division, University, Félix Cuevas, José María Rico, Xola.Subway line 3 has several stations in the vicinity: Ethiopia, Eugenia, Northern Division, Zapata and Coyoacan.