
Mexico Journal I – a walk around the city center
Pictorial report by Frederic Friedel
The Sheraton Centro Histórico, where the world chess championship is
being staged, is in the middle of Mexico City. As the name suggests, it is just
a short walk to many interesting historical sites. On our second day in the
city we undertook a first excursion, and the following pictures document our
four-hour adventure.

First stop: El hemiciclo de Juarez – the monument to Benito Juárez,
hero of the country
Benito Pablo Juárez García, a Zapotec Amerindian, served five
terms (from 1858 to 1872) as President of Mexico, the only full-blooded indigenous
national to serve in this office. Juárez is regarded as Mexico's greatest
and most beloved leader for resisting the French occupation, overthrowing the
Empire, and restoring the Republic.
In 1864 Maximilian von Hapsburg was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico, with the
backing of Napoleon III and Mexican conservatives. He proposed a meeting with
Juarez and offered him the post of Prime Minister of the Empire. Juarez refused
with the following words: "It is given to men, sometimes, to attack the
rights of others, to seize their goods, to threaten the life of those who defend
their nation, to make the highest virtues seem crimes, and to give their own
vices the luster of true virtue. But there is one thing that cannot be influenced
either by falsification or betrayal, namely the tremendous verdict of history.
It is she who will judge us."

The Palacio de Bellas Artes ("Palace of Fine Arts"), the premier
opera house in Mexico City, designed in imported Italian white marble. The theatre
is used for classical music, opera and dance. Maria Callas sang in several productions
at the Palacio early in her career, and there are recordings of several of her
performances.

Incredible high-rise buildings: here la Torre Latinoamericana

Tall and impressive: the Church of San Francisco de Asis

A doll vendor outside the church gate

Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, whose name means "One
That Has Descended Like an Eagle". He was born in 1502 and took power in
1520, when he ascended to the throne at the age of 18. At the time the city
was being besieged by the Spanish and devastated by an epidemic of smallpox.
In 1521, Cuauhtémoc was captured by the Spanish and tortured to make
him reveal the whereabouts of hidden treasure, but in spite of having his feet
put to a fire, Cuauhtémoc refused to divulge the information. In 1525
Cuauhtémoc was executed, at the age of just 23. Many places in Mexico
are named in honour of Cuauhtémoc.

Police women in Francisco I. Madero Street, urging cars to go faster

The "Catedral Metropolitana" (Metropolitan Cathedral) is located
beside the Zócalo or Constitution Square. It is the oldest in the Americas
and one of the largest cathedrals in the Western Hemisphere. It was consecrated
in 1667, but the final elements – bell towers and central dome –
were finished in 1813. Since it (like many buildings in Mexico City) was erected
on soft clay subsoil, it is in danger of collapsing due to irregular sinking.
For this reason permanent restoration work has to be undertaken.

Mexico is a Catholic nation with deep veneration for the Virgin Mary

The Calle de Moneda, a big comercial street is closed for general traffic and
lined with vendors

A Mexican woman selling baskets and bags on the sidewalk

This lady in the picture above pelted me with corn husks, because I was taking
pictures without consideration of a monetary transaction. We discussed the problem
briefly, in English, Spanish and sign language. Now we are cool.
Look who we met: Guil Rusek, a somewhat quirky, intelligent and humorous Mexican
IM, with a love for chess studies and classical music, whom we got to know during
two tournaments in Morelia; and, on the right, Bob Rice, a New York lawyer who
in 1993 founded and ran the breakaway "Professional Chess Association".
Bob reminded us that on September
11th 1995 Rudy Giuliani inaugurated the PCA World Championship match between
Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand on the deck of the World Trade Center in
New York. Really.

What Mexicans read: on one stand we found a collection of colorful books,
plus Guil's latest chess book

Bob bought the book, which was a steal at 15 pesetas – about one Euro
or just below two US dollars.
Templo Mayor
The Templo Mayor is in the heart of Mexico City, within walking distance of
our hotel. According to legend, the Aztecs were told by a god to find a place
where an eagle stood upon a cactus with a snake in its beak, and there, to build
the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan that would become the epicenter of power
for the powerful Aztec Empire.
Above is a model of the Templo Mayor, which rose 60 m (200 ft) and was surmounted
by dual shrines to the deities Huitzilopochtli (god of war and sun) and Tlaloc
(god of rain and fertility). The temple was enlarged several times, the last
time in 1487, when tens of thousands of people were sacrificed during the reconsecration.
Numerous smaller buildings and platforms associated with the temple formed
a closely-situated complex around its base. Above is a reconstruction of the
original complex in the Museo Arqueológico located within the area today.
Coyolxauqui
In 1978 electricity workers unearthed a giant stone disc (above) of Coyolxauqui,
an Aztec goddess. Further exploration revealed that there was an entire archaeological
wonder lying beneath Mexico City's streets, and a decision was taken to demolish
some old colonial buildings, to reveal the Templo Mayor (Main Temple). Cautionary
note: the rest of this section is not for the faint-hearted.

Bob Rice (right) learning all the horrific details of Coyolxauqui from
Guil
Coyolxauhqui ("face painted with bells”) was a powerful magician
who led her siblings in an attack on their mother, Coatlicue, the maternal Earth
deity, who had become pregnant and thus embarrassed her other children. During
the attack Coatlicue’s fetus, Huitzilopochtli, sprang from her womb in
full war armor and killed Coyolxauhqui, along with her 400 brothers and sisters.
He cut off her limbs, then tossed her head into the sky where it became the
moon, so that his mother would be comforted in seeing her daughter in the sky
every night.

The large shield-shaped Coyolxauhqui stone relief reflects this story. On it
Coyolxauhqui is shown spread out on her side, with her head, arms and legs chopped
away from her body. Scholars believe that the decapitation and destruction of
Coyolxauhqui is reflected in the pattern of warrior ritual sacrifice. First,
captives’ hearts were cut out. Then they were decapitated and had their
limbs chopped off. Finally, their bodies were cast from the temple to lie, perhaps,
on the great Coyolxauhqui stone.

The Templo Mayor was destroyed in 1521 after the conquest of the Aztec empire
by the Spanish conquistadores. Remains of the lower portions of the temple complex
have been discovered by modern archaeologists buried under a portion of modern
Mexico City.

The above stone depiction of a snake still retains its original coloring

A much smaller dragon hunts for insects on the stones of the Templo ruins
A giant inscribed wall describing the history of Templo Mayor
This interesting character is Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain and fertility.
He was greatly feared among the Aztecs, who drowned children to appease him.
They believed that Tlaloc was responsible for both floods and droughts. It was
believed he often used lightning bolts to make the people sick. Legends says
that he had four different jugs of water in his possession. When he emptied
the first one, it brought life to plants, to Earth. The second would cause blight,
the third brought on frost, and the fourth would bring total destruction.

Chac-Mool is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican stone statue, depicting a human figure
always in a reclining position the head up and turned to one side, holding a
tray over the stomach. The exact symbolism of this position is unknown. Chac-Mools
can be found throughout Central Mexico and Yucatan.

Two unidentified friends we made in the Templo museum

An Ocelot Jaguar exhibited in two very different phases of its life

Curanderos, traditional folk healers or shamans, respected members of the
community, who are used for curing physical and spiritual illnesses. They use
herbs and other natural remedies, but their primary method of healing is the
supernatural. This is because they believe that the cause of many illnesses
are lost malevolent spirits, a lesson from God, or a curse. Curanderos cure
ailments like espanto ("shock"), empacho ("surfeit"), susto
("fright"), mal aire ("bad air"), and mal de ojo ("evil
eye")
The entire area is filled with the scent of herbal smoke, coming from censers
which the Curanderos swing around their patients in a cleansing ritual known
as Limpia. The practice has been around for quite some time now – at least
since 500 BC.

The trip back to the hotel in the subway, quite modern and built by the
French

Mounted police Mexican style in the central park outside our hotel

This is how they patrol the park, ensuring the safety of visitors and tourists

A fountain, like so many others we found all around the city center
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