Around the World : December 2012

New Year 2013 Preparations at Zocalo, Mexico City

The Zócalo (Spanish pronunciation: [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 now its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square). 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.

Happy New Year 2013 :: Feliz Ano 2013

Hotels on the sidelines of the square were participating by putting up the lights.

For the new year's eve the whole square was blazing with decorations and lighting.

This candle resembles an Indian symbol.

This is a huge square about 250 m x 250 m dimensions with Palacio Nacional on one side and Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral on another.

There were some scenes depicting stories.

Ref: Wikipedia

Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral on Christmas Eve 2012

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City (Spanish: Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de María) is the oldest and largest 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 Constitución in downtown Mexico City. The cathedral was built in sections from 1573 to 1813 around the original church that was constructed soon after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlán, eventually replacing it entirely. Spanish architect Claudio de Arciniega planned the construction, drawing inspiration from Gothic cathedrals in Spain.

The moon was looking beautiful on the backdrop of the Cathedral.

This is indeed one of the Cathedrals.

Chrismas eve prayers inside the cathedral.

Ref: Wikipedia

Street Artists at Zocalo, Mexico City

In the central historic district between Zocalo and Palacio de Bellas Artes, on the Francisco I Madero street, there is a very interesting shopping area. This street is off limits for driving, so a lot of people are walking up and down this street. During Christmas and New Year holiday season there were a number of interesting street artists performing on the road for tips.

People were posing with them for photographs.

Santa Claus.

The mask guy...

Street performing can be hard work, you need some downtime....

And some native artists performing Mayan music

They had very interesting instruments.

And some exotic costumes.

and performed some really nice music. A bit of similarity with some background music used in Western movies.

House of Tiles : Casa de los Azulejos, Mexico City

The Casa de los Azulejos or "House of Tiles" is an 18th century palace in Mexico City, built by the Count del Valle de Orizaba family. What makes this palace, in the City of Palaces, distinctive is that its facade on three sides is completely covered in the expensive blue and white tile of Puebla state. The house today serves as flagship restaurant of Sanborns.

The external wall made of beautiful blue and white tiles.

Sanborns serves some delicious traditional Mexican cuisine and choices are available for Vegetarians.

Main hall of the restaurant. Still has the original palace look and feel.

The decorative ceiling.

Beautiful decorative chandelier.

Christmas preparations.

Christmas tree in the place of the fountain.

Decorative mrrors.

A wall mural.

Full view of the mural.

Staircase decorated with lights.

The walls with tiles.

Ref: Wikipedia

Church of San Francisco, Madero Street, Mexico City

The Church of San Francisco is located at the western end of Madero Street in the historic center of Mexico City, near the Torre Latinoamericana and is all that remains of the church and monastery complex. This complex was the headquarters of the first twelve Franciscan monks headed by Martín de Valencia who came to Mexico after receiving the first authorization from the Pope to evangelize in New Spain. In the early colonial period, this was one of the largest and most influential monasteries in Mexico City. At its peak, the church and monastery covered the blocks now bordered by Bolivar, Madero, Eje Central and Venustiano Carranza Streets, for a total area of 32,224 square meters.

The church standing today is the third to be built on the site. The first two sunk into the soft soil underneath Mexico City and had to be torn down. ^[2]This church was built between 1710 and 1716.

Ref: Wikipedia