Zócalo
Encyclopedia
The Zócalo (ˈsokalo, plinth
) is the main plaza or square in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City
. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Square," and today its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square). This name does not come from any of the Mexican constitution
s that have governed the country but rather from the Cádiz Constitution
which was signed in Spain in 1812. However, it is almost always called the Zócalo today. Plans were made to erect a column as a monument to Independence
, but only the base, or zócalo, was ever built. The plinth was destroyed long ago but the name has lived on. Many other Mexican towns and cities, such as Oaxaca
and Guadalajara
, have adopted the word zócalo to refer to their main plazas, but not all.
It has been a gathering place for Mexicans since Aztec
times, having been the site of Mexica
ceremonies, the swearing in of viceroy
s, royal proclamations, military parades, Independence ceremonies and modern religious events such as the festivals of Holy Week
and Corpus Christi
. It has received foreign heads of state and is the main venue for both national celebration and national protest.
to the north, the National Palace
to the east, the Federal District buildings
to the south and the Old Portal de Mercaderes
to the west, the Nacional Monte de Piedad
building at the north-west corner, with the Templo Mayor site to the northeast, just outside of view. In the center is a flagpole with an enormous Mexican flag
ceremoniously raised and lowered each day and carried into the National Palace. There is an entrance to the Metro station "Zócalo"
located at the northeast corner of the square but no sign above ground indicates its presence.
's "New Houses" or Palace (which would become the National Palace) and to the west by the "Old Houses", the palace of Axayácatl (1469 - 1481) where the Emperor Ahuitzotl, Moctezuma's uncle and immediate predecessor also lived. A European-style plaza was not part of the conquered Aztec
Tenochtitlan; the old city had a sacred precinct or "teocalli" which was the absolute center of the city (and the universe, according to Aztec belief), but it was located to the immediate north and northeast of the modern-day Zócalo.
The current Zócalo occupies a space south-southwest of the intersection of roads that oriented Tenochtitlan. The north-south road was called Tepeyac
-Iztapalapa
(for the locations north and south it led to). The Tlacopan
road led west and stretched east a little before leading into the lake that surrounded the city at the time. These roads were the width of three jousting lances according to Hernán Cortés
. This intersection divided the city into four neighborhoods. The sacred precinct, containing the Templo Mayor, was located to the northeast of this intersection and walled off from the open area for commoners. As to this area's relationship to the teocalli proper, some historians say that it was part of it, but others say no.
During early colonial times, the Plaza was bordered to the north by the new church, and to the east by Cortés new palace, built over and with the ruins of Moctezuma's palace. On the west side of the plaza, the Portales de Mercaderes (Merchants’ Portals) were built, south of Cortés’ other palace, the Palace of the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. On the south side, was the Portal of the Flowers (Flores), named so after its owner, Maria Gutierrez Flores de Caballerias. Next to this portal was the House of the Ayuntamiento
, a government building for the city. Both of these were behind a small drainage canal that ran east-west.
Flooding was always an issue for the Plaza and the city in general. The plaza was flooded in 1629 with water two meters deep, ruining many of the merchants located there and requiring many of the portals to be rebuilt.
After the Cathedral was constructed in the latter half of the 16th century, the physiognomy of the Plaza changed. The old church faced east and not to the Plaza itself. The new Cathedral's three portals towered south over the Plaza and giving the area a north-south orientation, which exists to this day.
Over much of the 17th century, the Plaza became overrun with market stalls. After a mob burned the Viceregal Palace in the 1690s, the Plaza was completely cleared to make way for the "Parian", a set of shops set in the southwest corner of the Plaza used to warehouse and sell products brought by galleon
s from Europe and Asia. This was opened in 1703.
This, however, did not keep the rest of the Plaza from becoming filled again with makeshift stalls such as the group known as "San Jose" located next to the Parian itself. This prompted historian Francisco Sedano to comment that it was ugly and unsightly. He claimed it was very difficult to walk around here at the time because of its uneven pavement, mud in the rainy season, aggressive street dogs, mounds of trash and human excrement tossed among the corn husks and other discarded wrappings.
Again the Plaza was cleared (with exception of the Parian) by proclamation of Charles IV of Spain
in December 1789. Then-viceroy Juan Vicente Güemes Pacheco
had the Plaza repaved and the open gutters covered with stone blocks. He also had a fountain installed in each corner. During this work, the Aztec Calendar was unearthed, as well as a statue of the goddess Coatlicue
. The Calendar was put on display on the west side of the Cathedral, where it remained until about 1890 when it was moved to the old "Centro Museum". It now resides in the Museum of Anthropology
. The statue eventually made its way to this museum, but not until it was practically buried in one of the back patios of the Royal and Pontifical University
until after Independence
. The former merchants of the Plaza were moved primarily to a new building called the Mercado de Volador (Market of the Flyer), located southeast of the Plaza where the Supreme Court
building stands today.
The Plaza was converted into public space with 64 lamps. The Cathedral was separated from the Plaza by iron grating; 124 stone benches were placed and the Plaza was marked off by low iron poles connected by an iron chain. The main feature of the redesigned plaza was an equestrian statue of Charles IV by Manuel Tolsá
. It was first placed in the southeaster corner of the Plaza, first on a gilded wood base to inaugurate it in December 1803. However, when the monument was completely finished, the wooden base was replaced by an oval stone one measuring 113 meters by 95.5 meters, with its own balustrade and fountains at the corners created by Jose del Mazo.
This was the backdrop when Viceroy Felix Maria Calleja, other authorities and assembled people swore allegiance to the Constitution of Cadiz, and fealty to the Spanish Crown on 22 May 1813 as the Mexican War of Independence
raged. This event also resulted in renaming the square as the "Plaza of the Constitution." The last changes to the Plaza before Independence were done by Manuel Tolsa placing the Cross of Mañozca at the southeast corner and placing another, similar cross to the northwest. Both of these were set on stone Neoclassical
pedestals.
where its current, and much smaller, base states that it is preserved solely for its artistic value. The statue's former oval base was moved to what was then the University building and the balustrade was moved to the Alameda Central
. This left the Plaza bare except for the Parian.
On the 4th and 5th December 1826, Lorenzo de Zavala
and General Jose Maria Lobato led a mob of soldiers, artisans, and hooligans attacking the Parian. They robbed and burned it shouting "Death to the Spaniards!" "Long live Lobato and those with fury!" A number of merchants died and most were ruined. President Santa Anna
finally had the Parian demolished in 1843. This left the Plaza bare again, except for some ash tree
s and flower gardens that were planted and protected by stone borders. Santa Anna wanted to build a monument to Mexican Independence in the center of the Plaza but his project got only as far as the base (zócalo), which stayed there for decades and gave the Plaza its current popular name. It stayed this way until 1866 when the Paseo (path) del Zócalo was created in response to the numbers of people who were using the plaza to take walks. A garden with footpaths was created; fountains were placed at each corner; 72 iron benches were installed and the area was lighted by hydrogen gas lamps. Santa Anna's base, however, was not removed.
s and designed to be similar to one in the Bois de Boulogne
in Paris. Soon afterward, the company Ferrocarriles del Distrito Federal ("Trains of the Federal District") converted part of the Zócalo into a streetcar station with ticket kiosk and stand. The streetcars and lighting were converted to electric power in 1894, and the Zócalo's paths were paved with asphalt
in 1891.
From the latter half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth, the Zócalo again filled with market stalls, including the "Centro Mercantil" which sold fabric, clothing, and Art Nouveau
stonework. The other stalls concentrated on more mundane merchandise. This caused pedestrians to take their walks on Alameda Central or on San Francisco and Madero streets, to the west of the Zócalo.
(the ten days from February 9th to 19, 1913), the National Palace was bombarded from the nearby military fort, incidentally damaging the Zócalo. In 1914, the ash trees planted in the previous century (which meanwhile had grown considerably) were taken out; new footpaths, grassy areas, and garden space were created; and palm trees were planted in each corner of the plaza.
The Zócalo was the starting point of the marathon run in the 1968 Summer Olympics
. But the plaza deteriorated until, by the 1970s, all that was left were light poles and a large flagpole in the middle. Then the ground was levelled again, the train tracks taken out, and the whole plaza cemented over. However, automobile parking was prohibited and the plaza's shape was squared to 200 meters on each side. Later in the 1970s, the Zócalo was repaved with pink cobblestones; small trees protected by metal grates were planted, and small areas of grass were seeded around the flagpole.
As the end of the twentieth century neared, the Zócalo, along with most of the city center (called the Colonia Centro) was in massive disrepair. This caused The Economist
to remark that the Zócalo and the area surrounding it ". . . should be one of the most compelling architectural destinations in the Americas. Instead, much of it is a slum of gutted buildings, dark and dirty streets blocked by milling vendors, and garbage-strewn vacant lots."
In the late 1990s, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
, then mayor of Mexico City
, and Dr. Rene Coulomb, director general of the Historic Center Trust, launched a $300,000,000 renovation of the Zócalo and the surrounding city center, with the aim of attracting businesses and residents back to the area. There were plans to remove the iron grating separating the Cathedral from the Zócalo, but there was so much public opposition to the idea that it was eventually scrapped.
launched a campaign to perform maintenance works in the Historic Center (which, because of Congressional reduction of the annual budget of the local government, was largely supported with the money collected in the streets for that purpose by government officials). The campaign has had satisfactory results.
In 2010, a replica of the Angel De la Independencia was brought to Zocalo as a way of spreading out the protestors from the original Angel site. This is because the original angel site, is located in a financial area, with great traffic.
The Zócalo is the center of government of both the nation and of the capital, where the powers-that-be are. This makes it a popular place for protests, and it is often dotted with protesters in makeshift camps and banners. As the plaza can hold more than 100,000 people, it is also the scene of major political rallies. Thousands rallied here in protest when Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas lost against Carlos Salinas
in a presidential election widely believed to have been rigged in 1988. In 2001, followers of Zapatista
leader Subcomandante Marcos
, mostly poor Chiapan
indigenous people, marched into the Zócalo to support a bill that would give them greater political autonomy. Following Cárdenas’ lead, Andrés Manuel López Obrador
staged major protests here after the 2006 Mexican presidential elections
as well as a rally with thousands of participants against President Calderón
's initiative to allow private and foreign investment in Mexico's state-owned energy company, PEMEX
. Very recently, a protest against crime held on August 30, 2008 filled the Zócalo to capacity.
The plaza is also home to regularly occurring political events. Just before 11 pm on each September 15, the president of Mexico
comes out onto the central balcony of the National Palace to perform the Grito de Dolores
to the crowd gathered in the plaza. However, even this is sometimes subject to the political winds of the country. For the 2006 Grito, the crowd in the Zócalo was addressed not by then-President Vicente Fox
, who had gone to Dolores Hidalgo
, Guanajuato
to deliver the Grito, but by Alejandro Encinas, then-mayor of Mexico City. This was done to avoid mass protests in the Zócalo following the disputed presidential election between Felipe Calderón and López Obrador.
An alternative expression of Mexican pride is the celebration of the spring equinox on the Zócalo. This is done by groups looking to reassert the superiority of indigenous ethnic bloodlines (La Raza
) and pre-Hispanic culture. They choose to do the ceremony here not only because it is close to where such rites used to be performed before the Spaniards came, but also because they are right next to the symbols of "Spanish" ecclesiastical and secular power (The Cathedral and National Palace, respectively), which they oppose.
shells. On a grander scale, some examples of events held here recently are Spencer Tunick
's photo shoot where nearly 18,000 Mexicans bared all for the artist, surpassing the record set earlier in Barcelona
and the Ashes and Snow
nomadic museum. One curious event was the building of a temporary ice-skating rink of about 3,200 m² in the middle of the Zócalo, for use by the city's residents for free in the winter of 2007.
The Festival de México is an annual event with programs dedicated to art (popular and fine) and academia held in the Zócalo and some other venues in the historic center. In 2008, the 24th Festival had 254 performances and shows from over 20 countries in 65 plazas and other locations near the plaza.
Concerts by popular singers and groups have also been held here. Café Tacuba drew almost 100,000 people to the plaza in 2005 and Colombia
n superstar Shakira
drew a crowd of about 210,000 according to Mexico's Civil Protection. In August 2008, a skateboarding
/BMX
event drew 50,000 young people on a Sunday afternoon.
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
) is the main plaza or square in the heart of the historic center 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 plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Square," and today its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square). This name does not come from any of the Mexican constitution
Constitution of Mexico
The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, by a constitutional convention, during the Mexican Revolution. It was approved by the Constitutional Congress on February 5, 1917...
s that have governed the country but rather from the Cádiz Constitution
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
which was signed in Spain in 1812. However, it is almost always called the Zócalo today. Plans were made to erect a column as a monument to Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
, but only the base, or zócalo, was ever built. The plinth was destroyed long ago but the name has lived on. Many other Mexican towns and cities, such as Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca
The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...
and Guadalajara
Guadalajara
Guadalajara may refer to:In Mexico:*Guadalajara, Jalisco, the capital of the state of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico**Guadalajara Metropolitan Area*University of Guadalajara, a public university in Guadalajara, Jalisco...
, have adopted the word zócalo to refer to their main plazas, but not all.
It has been a gathering place for Mexicans since Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
times, having been the site of Mexica
Mexica
The Mexica were a pre-Columbian people of central Mexico.Mexica may also refer to:*Mexica , a board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling*Mexica , a 2005 novel by Norman Spinrad...
ceremonies, the swearing in of viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
s, royal proclamations, military parades, Independence ceremonies and modern religious events such as the festivals of Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
and Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
. It has received foreign heads of state and is the main venue for both national celebration and national protest.
Description
The modern Zócalo in Mexico City is 57,600 metres² (240 m × 240 m), making it one of the largest city squares in the world. It is bordered by the CathedralMexico City Metropolitan Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City is the largest and oldest cathedral in the Americas and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico. It is situated atop the former Aztec sacred precinct near the Templo Mayor on the northern side of the Plaza de la...
to the north, the National Palace
National Palace (Mexico)
The National Palace, or Palacio Nacional in Spanish), was the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. It is located on Mexico City's main square, the Plaza de la Constitución...
to the east, the Federal District buildings
Federal District buildings
The Federal District buildings are two buildings on the south side of the Zócalo in Mexico City divided by the avenue Avenida 20 de Noviembre. They house offices of the governing authority of the Federal District or Mexico City. The building to the west of 20 de Noviembre is the older one and has...
to the south and the Old Portal de Mercaderes
Old Portal de Mercaderes (Mexico City)
Old Portal de Mercaderes in the historic center of Mexico City was and is the west side of the main plaza . This side of the plaza has been occupied by commercial structures since the Spanish Conquest of Mexico in 1521...
to the west, the Nacional Monte de Piedad
Nacional Monte de Piedad
The Nacional Monte de Piedad is a not-for-profit- institution and pawnshop whose main office is located just off the Zócalo, or main plaza of Mexico City. It was established between 1774 and 1777 by Pedro Romero de Terreros as part of a movement to provide interest-free or low-interest loans to...
building at the north-west corner, with the Templo Mayor site to the northeast, just outside of view. In the center is a flagpole with an enormous Mexican flag
Flag of Mexico
The flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these three colors were adopted by Mexico following independence from Spain during the country's War...
ceremoniously raised and lowered each day and carried into the National Palace. There is an entrance to the Metro station "Zócalo"
Metro Zócalo
Metro Zócalo is a station on Line 2 of the Mexico City Metro system. It is located in the Colonia Centro district of the Cuauhtémoc borough exactly on the heart of Mexico City...
located at the northeast corner of the square but no sign above ground indicates its presence.
Pre-conquest
Prior to the conquest, the area that the Zócalo occupies was open space, in the center of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. It was bordered to the east by Moctezuma IIMoctezuma II
Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...
's "New Houses" or Palace (which would become the National Palace) and to the west by the "Old Houses", the palace of Axayácatl (1469 - 1481) where the Emperor Ahuitzotl, Moctezuma's uncle and immediate predecessor also lived. A European-style plaza was not part of the conquered Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
Tenochtitlan; the old city had a sacred precinct or "teocalli" which was the absolute center of the city (and the universe, according to Aztec belief), but it was located to the immediate north and northeast of the modern-day Zócalo.
The current Zócalo occupies a space south-southwest of the intersection of roads that oriented Tenochtitlan. The north-south road was called Tepeyac
Tepeyac
Tepeyac or the Hill of Tepeyac, historically known by the names "Tepeyacac" and "Tepeaquilla", is located inside Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost delegación or borough of the Mexican Federal District. It is the site where Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin of Guadalupe in December of 1531, and...
-Iztapalapa
Iztapalapa
Iztapalapa is one of the Federal District of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs, located on the east side of the entity. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa, which is officially called Iztapalapa de Cuitláhuac for disambiguation purposes...
(for the locations north and south it led to). The Tlacopan
Tlacopan
Tlacopan , also called Tacuba, was a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican city-state situated on the western shore of Lake Texcoco.Founded by Tlacomatzin, Tlacopan was a Tepanec kingdom subordinate to nearby Azcapotzalco...
road led west and stretched east a little before leading into the lake that surrounded the city at the time. These roads were the width of three jousting lances according to Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
. This intersection divided the city into four neighborhoods. The sacred precinct, containing the Templo Mayor, was located to the northeast of this intersection and walled off from the open area for commoners. As to this area's relationship to the teocalli proper, some historians say that it was part of it, but others say no.
Post-conquest
The modern plaza of Mexico City was placed by Alonso Garcia Bravo shortly after the Conquest when he laid out what is now the historic center. After the destruction of Tenochtitlan, Cortés had the city redesigned for symbolic purposes. He kept the four major neighborhoods or "capullis" but he had a church, now the Cathedral of Mexico City built at the place the four adjoined. He had the Templo Mayor completely razed to the ground, using the stones from it and other buildings of the teocalli to pave the new plaza. What was the old teocalli is now occupied by the Templo Mayor archeological site, the Cathedral and part of the National Palace. The new layout kept the north-south and west-east avenues and the open space but this space was cut in half by the building of the new Spanish church (to later become the Cathedral). The southern half was called the "Plaza Mayor" (Main Square) and the northern one was called the "Plaza Chica" (Small Square). Fairly early in the colonial period, the Plaza Chica would be swallowed up by the growing city.During early colonial times, the Plaza was bordered to the north by the new church, and to the east by Cortés new palace, built over and with the ruins of Moctezuma's palace. On the west side of the plaza, the Portales de Mercaderes (Merchants’ Portals) were built, south of Cortés’ other palace, the Palace of the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. On the south side, was the Portal of the Flowers (Flores), named so after its owner, Maria Gutierrez Flores de Caballerias. Next to this portal was the House of the Ayuntamiento
Ayuntamiento
Ayuntamiento In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . is the general term for the council of a municipality, or sometimes the municipality itself, in Spain and Latin America. Historically Ayuntamiento was often preceded by the word excelentísimo , when referring to...
, a government building for the city. Both of these were behind a small drainage canal that ran east-west.
Flooding was always an issue for the Plaza and the city in general. The plaza was flooded in 1629 with water two meters deep, ruining many of the merchants located there and requiring many of the portals to be rebuilt.
After the Cathedral was constructed in the latter half of the 16th century, the physiognomy of the Plaza changed. The old church faced east and not to the Plaza itself. The new Cathedral's three portals towered south over the Plaza and giving the area a north-south orientation, which exists to this day.
Over much of the 17th century, the Plaza became overrun with market stalls. After a mob burned the Viceregal Palace in the 1690s, the Plaza was completely cleared to make way for the "Parian", a set of shops set in the southwest corner of the Plaza used to warehouse and sell products brought by galleon
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...
s from Europe and Asia. This was opened in 1703.
This, however, did not keep the rest of the Plaza from becoming filled again with makeshift stalls such as the group known as "San Jose" located next to the Parian itself. This prompted historian Francisco Sedano to comment that it was ugly and unsightly. He claimed it was very difficult to walk around here at the time because of its uneven pavement, mud in the rainy season, aggressive street dogs, mounds of trash and human excrement tossed among the corn husks and other discarded wrappings.
Again the Plaza was cleared (with exception of the Parian) by proclamation of Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
in December 1789. Then-viceroy Juan Vicente Güemes Pacheco
Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo
Juan Vicente de Güemes Padilla Horcasitas y Aguayo, 2nd Count of Revillagigedo was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Spain from October 17, 1789 to July 11, 1794...
had the Plaza repaved and the open gutters covered with stone blocks. He also had a fountain installed in each corner. During this work, the Aztec Calendar was unearthed, as well as a statue of the goddess Coatlicue
Coatlicue
Coatlicue, also known as Teteoinan , "The Mother of Gods" , is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun and war...
. The Calendar was put on display on the west side of the Cathedral, where it remained until about 1890 when it was moved to the old "Centro Museum". It now resides in the Museum of Anthropology
Museo Nacional de Antropología
The Museo Nacional de Antropología is a national museum of Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Calle Mahatma Gandhi within Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, the museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from the pre-Columbian heritage of...
. The statue eventually made its way to this museum, but not until it was practically buried in one of the back patios of the Royal and Pontifical University
Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico
The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico was founded on 21 September 1551 by Royal Decree signed by Charles I of Spain, in Valladolid, Spain. It is generally considered the first university officially founded in North America and second in the Americas.After the Mexican War of Independence it...
until after Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
. The former merchants of the Plaza were moved primarily to a new building called the Mercado de Volador (Market of the Flyer), located southeast of the Plaza where the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation is the highest federal court in the United Mexican States. It consists of a President of the Supreme Court and ten Ministers who are confirmed by the Senate from a list proposed by the President of the Republic.Justices of the SCJN serve for fifteen...
building stands today.
The Plaza was converted into public space with 64 lamps. The Cathedral was separated from the Plaza by iron grating; 124 stone benches were placed and the Plaza was marked off by low iron poles connected by an iron chain. The main feature of the redesigned plaza was an equestrian statue of Charles IV by Manuel Tolsá
Manuel Tolsá
Manuel Tolsá was a prolific Neoclassical architect and sculptor in Spain and Mexico.-Biography:...
. It was first placed in the southeaster corner of the Plaza, first on a gilded wood base to inaugurate it in December 1803. However, when the monument was completely finished, the wooden base was replaced by an oval stone one measuring 113 meters by 95.5 meters, with its own balustrade and fountains at the corners created by Jose del Mazo.
This was the backdrop when Viceroy Felix Maria Calleja, other authorities and assembled people swore allegiance to the Constitution of Cadiz, and fealty to the Spanish Crown on 22 May 1813 as the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
raged. This event also resulted in renaming the square as the "Plaza of the Constitution." The last changes to the Plaza before Independence were done by Manuel Tolsa placing the Cross of Mañozca at the southeast corner and placing another, similar cross to the northwest. Both of these were set on stone Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
pedestals.
Independence
Upon Independence, the monument to Charles IV was disassembled and taken away from Plaza. The equestrian statue itself can still be seen in front of the National Art MuseumMuseo Nacional de Arte
The Museo Nacional de Arte is the Mexican national art museum, located in the historical center of Mexico City. The museum is housed in a neoclassical building at No. 8 Tacuba, Col. Centro, Mexico City. It includes a large collection representing the history of Mexican art from the mid-sixteenth...
where its current, and much smaller, base states that it is preserved solely for its artistic value. The statue's former oval base was moved to what was then the University building and the balustrade was moved to the Alameda Central
Mexico City Alameda Central
Alameda Central is a public municipal park in downtown Mexico City, adjacent to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, between Juarez Avenue and Hidalgo Avenue.-Description:...
. This left the Plaza bare except for the Parian.
On the 4th and 5th December 1826, Lorenzo de Zavala
Lorenzo de Zavala
Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Saenz was a 19th-century Mexican politician. He served as finance minister under President Vicente Guerrero. A colonizer and statesman, he was also the interim Vice President of the Republic of Texas, serving under interim President David G...
and General Jose Maria Lobato led a mob of soldiers, artisans, and hooligans attacking the Parian. They robbed and burned it shouting "Death to the Spaniards!" "Long live Lobato and those with fury!" A number of merchants died and most were ruined. President Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...
finally had the Parian demolished in 1843. This left the Plaza bare again, except for some ash tree
Ash tree
Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...
s and flower gardens that were planted and protected by stone borders. Santa Anna wanted to build a monument to Mexican Independence in the center of the Plaza but his project got only as far as the base (zócalo), which stayed there for decades and gave the Plaza its current popular name. It stayed this way until 1866 when the Paseo (path) del Zócalo was created in response to the numbers of people who were using the plaza to take walks. A garden with footpaths was created; fountains were placed at each corner; 72 iron benches were installed and the area was lighted by hydrogen gas lamps. Santa Anna's base, however, was not removed.
Era of reform
In 1878, Antonio Escandon donated a kiosk to the city which was set over and on top of Santa Anna's base. It was lit with four large iron candelabraCandelabra
"Candelabra" is the traditional term for a set of multiple decorative candlesticks, each of which often holds a candle on each of multiple arms or branches connected to a column or pedestal...
s and designed to be similar to one in the Bois de Boulogne
Bois de Boulogne
The Bois de Boulogne is a park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine...
in Paris. Soon afterward, the company Ferrocarriles del Distrito Federal ("Trains of the Federal District") converted part of the Zócalo into a streetcar station with ticket kiosk and stand. The streetcars and lighting were converted to electric power in 1894, and the Zócalo's paths were paved with asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
in 1891.
From the latter half of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth, the Zócalo again filled with market stalls, including the "Centro Mercantil" which sold fabric, clothing, and Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
stonework. The other stalls concentrated on more mundane merchandise. This caused pedestrians to take their walks on Alameda Central or on San Francisco and Madero streets, to the west of the Zócalo.
20th century
During the Decena TrágicaLa decena trágica
The Ten Tragic Days was a series of events that took place in Mexico City between February 9 and February 19, 1913, during the Mexican Revolution. They culminated in a coup d'état and the assassination of President Francisco I...
(the ten days from February 9th to 19, 1913), the National Palace was bombarded from the nearby military fort, incidentally damaging the Zócalo. In 1914, the ash trees planted in the previous century (which meanwhile had grown considerably) were taken out; new footpaths, grassy areas, and garden space were created; and palm trees were planted in each corner of the plaza.
The Zócalo was the starting point of the marathon run in the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
. But the plaza deteriorated until, by the 1970s, all that was left were light poles and a large flagpole in the middle. Then the ground was levelled again, the train tracks taken out, and the whole plaza cemented over. However, automobile parking was prohibited and the plaza's shape was squared to 200 meters on each side. Later in the 1970s, the Zócalo was repaved with pink cobblestones; small trees protected by metal grates were planted, and small areas of grass were seeded around the flagpole.
As the end of the twentieth century neared, the Zócalo, along with most of the city center (called the Colonia Centro) was in massive disrepair. This caused The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
to remark that the Zócalo and the area surrounding it ". . . should be one of the most compelling architectural destinations in the Americas. Instead, much of it is a slum of gutted buildings, dark and dirty streets blocked by milling vendors, and garbage-strewn vacant lots."
In the late 1990s, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano is a prominent Mexican politician. He was a former Head of Government of the Federal District and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolution .-Biography:...
, then mayor 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...
, and Dr. Rene Coulomb, director general of the Historic Center Trust, launched a $300,000,000 renovation of the Zócalo and the surrounding city center, with the aim of attracting businesses and residents back to the area. There were plans to remove the iron grating separating the Cathedral from the Zócalo, but there was so much public opposition to the idea that it was eventually scrapped.
21st Century
Recently, mayor Marcelo EbrardMarcelo Ebrard
Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubón is the current Head of Government of the Federal District since December 5, 2006. He is a Mexican politician affiliated to the Party of the Democratic Revolution who served as Secretary-General of the former Mexican Federal District Department, minister of public...
launched a campaign to perform maintenance works in the Historic Center (which, because of Congressional reduction of the annual budget of the local government, was largely supported with the money collected in the streets for that purpose by government officials). The campaign has had satisfactory results.
In 2010, a replica of the Angel De la Independencia was brought to Zocalo as a way of spreading out the protestors from the original Angel site. This is because the original angel site, is located in a financial area, with great traffic.
As political hub
Carlos Salinas
Carlos Salinas de Gortari is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Earlier in his career he worked in the Budget Secretariat all the way up to Secretary...
in a presidential election widely believed to have been rigged in 1988. In 2001, followers of Zapatista
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
leader Subcomandante Marcos
Subcomandante Marcos
Subcomandante Marcos is the spokesperson for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , a Mexican rebel movement. In January 1994, he led an army of Mayan farmers into the eastern parts of the Mexican state of Chiapas protesting against the Mexican government's treatment of indigenous...
, mostly poor Chiapan
Chiapas
Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
indigenous people, marched into the Zócalo to support a bill that would give them greater political autonomy. Following Cárdenas’ lead, Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
Andrés Manuel López Obrador , also known as AMLO or El Peje, is a Mexican politician who held the position of Head of Government of the Federal District from 2000 to 2005, before resigning in July 2005 to contend the 2006 presidential election, representing the unsuccessful Coalition for the Good...
staged major protests here after the 2006 Mexican presidential elections
Mexican general election 2006 controversies
The Mexican general election of July 2, 2006 was one of the most hotly contested elections in Mexican history and as such, the results were controversial...
as well as a rally with thousands of participants against President Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
's initiative to allow private and foreign investment in Mexico's state-owned energy company, PEMEX
Pemex
Petróleos Mexicanos or Pemex is a Mexican state-owned petroleum company. As of 2010, with a total asset worth of $415.75 billion, it is the second non-publicly listed largest company in the world by total market value, and Latin America's second largest enterprise by annual revenue as of 2009...
. Very recently, a protest against crime held on August 30, 2008 filled the Zócalo to capacity.
The plaza is also home to regularly occurring political events. Just before 11 pm on each September 15, the president of Mexico
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
comes out onto the central balcony of the National Palace to perform the Grito de Dolores
Grito de Dolores
The Grito de Dolores also known as El Grito de la Independencia , uttered from the small town of Dolores, near Guanajuato on April 19, 1810 is the event that marks the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence and is the most important national holiday observed in Mexico...
to the crowd gathered in the plaza. However, even this is sometimes subject to the political winds of the country. For the 2006 Grito, the crowd in the Zócalo was addressed not by then-President Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.Fox was elected...
, who had gone to Dolores Hidalgo
Dolores Hidalgo
Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo Dolores Hidalgo (in full, Dolores Hidalgo Cuna de la Independencia Nacional is the name of a city and the surrounding municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Guanajuato....
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
to deliver the Grito, but by Alejandro Encinas, then-mayor of Mexico City. This was done to avoid mass protests in the Zócalo following the disputed presidential election between Felipe Calderón and López Obrador.
An alternative expression of Mexican pride is the celebration of the spring equinox on the Zócalo. This is done by groups looking to reassert the superiority of indigenous ethnic bloodlines (La Raza
La Raza
In the Spanish language the term Raza translates to "race". Its meaning varies amongst various Spanish-speaking peoples. For instance, in Spain, "Raza" may denote specifically Spanish and often of a something or someone of a European Christian heritage. The Francoist film Raza, from 1944, which...
) and pre-Hispanic culture. They choose to do the ceremony here not only because it is close to where such rites used to be performed before the Spaniards came, but also because they are right next to the symbols of "Spanish" ecclesiastical and secular power (The Cathedral and National Palace, respectively), which they oppose.
As artistic venue
Since 1982, due to efforts to revitalize the city center, the Zócalo has become the scene of a number of artistic and cultural events. There are daily impromptu shows of Aztec dancers dancing to drums, wearing feathered headdresses and anklets made of conchaConcha
Concha can refer to:* The bowl-shaped part of the pinna nearest the ear canal* Concha or Concho, a round decorative piece of metal seen on a western saddle and other horse equipment descended from the Spanish tradition....
shells. On a grander scale, some examples of events held here recently are Spencer Tunick
Spencer Tunick
Spencer Tunick is an American photographer. Tunick is best known for organizing large-scale nude shoots. Since 1994 he has photographed over 75 human installations around the world.-Biography:...
's photo shoot where nearly 18,000 Mexicans bared all for the artist, surpassing the record set earlier in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and the Ashes and Snow
Ashes and Snow
Ashes and Snow by Canadian artist Gregory Colbert is an installation of photographic artworks, films, and a novel in letters that travels in the Nomadic Museum, a temporary structure built exclusively to house the exhibition. The work explores the shared poetic sensibilities of human beings and...
nomadic museum. One curious event was the building of a temporary ice-skating rink of about 3,200 m² in the middle of the Zócalo, for use by the city's residents for free in the winter of 2007.
The Festival de México is an annual event with programs dedicated to art (popular and fine) and academia held in the Zócalo and some other venues in the historic center. In 2008, the 24th Festival had 254 performances and shows from over 20 countries in 65 plazas and other locations near the plaza.
Concerts by popular singers and groups have also been held here. Café Tacuba drew almost 100,000 people to the plaza in 2005 and Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n superstar Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
drew a crowd of about 210,000 according to Mexico's Civil Protection. In August 2008, a skateboarding
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
/BMX
BMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
event drew 50,000 young people on a Sunday afternoon.