City pack · Mexico City, Mexico
20 narrated stories about Mexico City — streets, landmarks and the people behind their names — about 61 minutes of listening. Play them here, or download the pack and listen offline on the plane, the train, the walk.
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Por qué la Roma se mece · 3 min · page
The Roma neighborhood sways because it is built on the former bed of Lake Texcoco. Its soft, lacustrine clay soil acts like a saturated sponge, causing the ground to amplify seismic waves and move like a bowl of gelatin.
Torre Latinoamericana · 3 min · page
The tower survived major earthquakes in 1957, 1985, and 2017 thanks to its foundation of three hundred and sixty-one concrete piles driven deep into the earth. Completed in 1956, it was built on the site of Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II’s private zoo.
La Casa de los Azulejos · 3 min · page
According to legend, the Count del Valle de Orizaba told his spendthrift son he would "never build a house of tiles." To prove his father wrong, the son covered the family’s colonial mansion in expensive, shimmering Talavera tiles.
Palacio de Iturbide · 3 min · page
Completed in 1785 as a grand residence, this Baroque palace was home to Agustín de Iturbide when he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico. It has served as a hotel and college, and now functions as the Palacio de Cultura Citibanamex.
Unlocks with the pack
Oratorio de San Felipe Neri · 3 min · page
Built in 1712 from pink cantera stone, the Oratorio features a Baroque facade and thirty-three paintings of Saint Philip Neri. It houses the Santa Casa de Loreto, a replica of Mary's house decorated with gold leaf and Talavera tiles.
Unlocks with the pack
Plaza Mayor, Madrid · 3 min · page
For over four hundred years, Plaza Mayor has hosted royal weddings, bullfights, and Spanish Inquisition trials. Commissioned by King Philip III in 1619, the square features the Casa de la Panadería and the famous Arco de Cuchilleros entrance.
Unlocks with the pack
Palacio Nacional · 3 min · page
Built on Aztec ruins, the Palacio Nacional features volcanic tezontle stone and Diego Rivera's famous murals. It houses the Campana de Dolores bell for independence celebrations, botanical gardens, and the rooms where Benito Juárez spent his final days.
Unlocks with the pack
Palacio de la Inquisición, Plaza de Bolívar, Cartagena · 3 min · page
Established in 1610, this palace hosted the Holy Office of the Inquisition to maintain religious orthodoxy. Today, it serves as a museum displaying colonial baroque architecture and instruments of torture used to extract confessions from those accused of heresy.
Unlocks with the pack
Hernández Macías runs past Bellas Artes, the arts · 3 min · page
Siqueiros’ unfinished mural is located at Bellas Artes, an 18th-century former convent cloister on Calle Hernández Macías. He began the work in 1948 using perspectivism, but left it incomplete due to artistic disputes and political entanglements.
Unlocks with the pack
Palacio de Bellas Artes · 3 min · page
The building is sinking because its massive weight sits on the soft, clay-rich bed of the ancient Lake Texcoco. Over the last century, the marble structure has surrendered to the lakebed, sinking several meters into the earth.
Unlocks with the pack
Parque España · 3 min · page
Inaugurated in 1921 to commemorate the Mexican War of Independence's centenary, the land was previously a horse-racing track. Its Lázaro Cárdenas monument symbolizes the sanctuary Mexico offered to Spanish refugees during the Spanish Civil War.
Unlocks with the pack
Parque México, Mexico City, Mexico · 3 min · page
The park's paths follow a sweeping arc because the land was previously the Jockey Club’s horse racing track, the Hipódromo de la Condesa. When inaugurated in 1927, designers chose to preserve the famous oval shape of the original racetrack.
Unlocks with the pack
El Foro Lindbergh · 3 min · page
The forum was named in honor of Charles Lindbergh following his 1927 flight to Mexico City as a gesture of international friendship. During this visit, he met his future wife, Anne Morrow, starting a romance that captivated the world.
Unlocks with the pack
El Edificio Basurto · 3 min · page
The Edificio Basurto is a 14-story Art Deco masterpiece famous for its helical staircase and cross-shaped design. This structural symmetry allowed the building to survive the 1985 and 2017 earthquakes while providing every apartment with natural light and ventilation.
Unlocks with the pack
La Cibeles de la Roma · 3 min · page
The Fuente de la Cibeles is a bronze replica gifted by the Spanish community in 1980. Located in the Roma Norte neighborhood, it symbolizes the cultural bond and friendship between Spain and Mexico.
Unlocks with the pack
Plaza Río de Janeiro · 3 min · page
Located in Roma Norte, this square features a bronze replica of Michelangelo’s David and the 'House of the Witches.' Renamed in 1922 to celebrate Brazil’s independence centennial, it is known for its French style architecture and the legend of shaman Pachita.
Unlocks with the pack
Casa Lamm · 3 min · page
Built in 1911 as a private residence, this neoclassical mansion later served as a boys' school. After being restored in 1993, it now functions as a cultural center, art institute, and gallery housing a major art history library.
Unlocks with the pack
Plaza Luis Cabrera · 3 min · page
Named after Luis Cabrera, a lawyer and intellectual who drafted the Agrarian Law of 1915, this Roma Norte plaza features European-style architecture. It was developed in the early 1900s and was frequented by Beat Generation writers like Jack Kerouac in the 1950s.
Unlocks with the pack
Calle Ignacio Allende, Mexico City · 3 min · page
The street is named after Ignacio Allende, a professional soldier and strategist who co-led Mexico’s 1810 independence movement. After his 1811 execution, his remains were moved to the base of the Independence Column on the Paseo de la Reforma.
Unlocks with the pack
Boulevard Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, Mexico City · 3 min · page
The boulevard is named after Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, Mexico's fifty-fourth president. He is best remembered for his personal honesty and for signing the 1953 reform that granted Mexican women the right to vote and run for office.
Unlocks with the pack