mexico ~ central region

MEXICO CITY

Zócalo

Thursday March 28^th, 2019

The heart of Mexcio City is the enormous 220 metre × 240 metre (722 foot × 787 foot) 57,600 m2 (14.23 acre) Zócalo, also known as the Plaza de la Constitución, the largest public square in Latin America, which has served as a gathering place for Mexicans since Aztec times.

At its edges stand the Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los cielos (Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heavens or just simply the Metropolitan Cathedral) to the north, Palacio Nacional (National Palace) to the east, Palacio Municipal (Federal District buildings or City Hall) to the south and the 'recent' addition of arcaded shops - the Portal de Mercaderes, to the west that dates back to 1521.

As one of the largest public squares in the world, it has variously served as a forum for mass protests, free concerts, a human chessboard, a gallery of 'interesting' Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) altars, ice-skating rinks and it’s even been a canvas for photo artist Spencer Tunick, who filled the square with 18,000 nude Mexicans in May 2007.

In an interesting quirk of history, the Zócalo's formal name is Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square), but the title does not come from any of the Mexican constitutions that have governed the country. It actually comes from the Cádiz Constitution which was signed in Spain in the year 1812, where plans were made to erect a column as a monument to Independence, but only the base, or zócalo (meaning "plinth") was built and then subsequently buried long ago, but the name has lived on.