The Zocalo is the main square of Mexico City's historic center, one of the largest public squares in the world. It is surrounded by important buildings like the cathedral, government buildings housing murals by Diego Rivera, and an Aztec temple uncovered below. The square serves as the heart of the city for events and gatherings.

2.  This is the main square of Mexico City’s
historic center. At 830 x 500 feet, it's one
of the largest public square in the world.
The great expanse of paved space is
decorated with a single huge Mexican flag
in the center. This is the heart of the
city, the site of events, festivals and
protests, and a good place to start your
explorations.

3.  The enormous cathedral on the North side
of the Zocalo was built over a period of 250
years and has a mixture of architectural
styles. Like many buildings in Mexico City’s
historical center, it is slowly sinking into
the ground. An extensive engineering
project was undertaken in the 1990s to
rescue the building, not to stop the
sinking, but to ensure that the cathedral
would sink uniformly.

4.  The government building takes up the East
side of the Zocalo and houses the federal
treasury and national archives. The main
attraction here is Diego Rivera's murals
depicting thousands of years of Mexican
history.

5.  In1978 electric company workers digging
beside the cathedral unearthed a large
round stone depicting the Aztec moon
goddess Coyolxauqui, which spurred the
excavation of this, the main Aztec temple,
dedicated to Tlaloc, the god of rain and
Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. In the
museum you can see the stone sculpture
which instigated the archaeological project,
as well as an interesting scale model of the
city in ancient times and many artifacts
found on the site.

6.  Thisgrandiose theater was planned to
commemorate the centenary of Mexican
independence in 1910, but was not
completed until 1934. It contains murals by
Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David
Alfaro Siqueiros and Rufino Tamayo.