Mixcoac
Mixcoac is an area of southern Mexico City which used to be a separate town and municipality within the Mexican Federal District until it was made part of Mexico City proper (the Departamento Central at the time in 1928. Mixcoac consists of the colonias (official neighborhoods) of Nonoalco, San Juan, Extremadura Insurgentes, Mixcoac and Insurgentes Mixcoac and is part of Benito Juárez borough. It is located between Avenida de los Insurgentes on the east and the Periférico freeway on the west, south of Colonia Nápoles and San Pedro de los Pinos.
It is a designated Barrio Mágico ("magical neighborhood") of Mexico City.[1]
Contents
History
The name "Mixcoac" comes from the Nahuatl language mixtli (cloud), coatl (serpent), cómo (in), and therefore means "Place of the Serpent Cloud", alluding to the Milky Way and the god Mixcóatl.
Before the Spanish conquest there was a small settlement on the edge of Lake Texcoco, the lake that surrounded the island city of Tenochtitlan, today Mexico City. The ruins of the site, occupied between about 900 AD and 1521 AD, can be appreciated in the Mixcoac archeological site (see article in Spanish Wikipedia).
After the Conquest, ranchos and haciendas were established in the area, as well as a textile factory which is today forms part of the Mexico City campus of the Universidad Panamericana. In the late 19th century, wealthy people from Mexico City began establishing summer residences here and in nearby towns such as Tacubaya, San Ángel and Coyoacán.In 1910 the large La Castañeda psychiatric hospital opened, functioning until 1967. In 1928 the Municipality of Mixcoac was absorbed into Mexico City proper, that is it became part of a new Departamento Central within the Mexican Federal District.[2]
In 1910 the municipality had 21,812 residents with about 1900 dwellings. In the following decades the ranchos and haciendas were subdivided and the area became contiguous with the rest of the Mexico City urban area.
Nonetheless the historic center of Mixcoac around the main square is largely intact.
Points of interest
Historic buildings and sites that still exist include:
- Glorieta de Goya roundabout and park with a statue of Álvaro Obregón
- Old textile factory (Antiguo Obraje de Mixcoac) - Universidad Panamericana: previously a silk clothing factory and now part of the university
- Centro Cultural Juan Rulfo: former city hall built under President Porfirio Díaz, now a cultural center
- Casa de la Campana ("House of the Bell")
- Plaza Jaurégui: Main square
- House of Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi
- Galería Arte Quimera
Churches include the Parroquia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán (a.k.a. Ex Convento y Parroquia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán y Capilla de la Virgen del Rayo, Ex-Convent and Parish of Santo Domingo de Guzmán and Chapel of the Virgin of the Ray), first founded in 1595.[3]
Transportation
Mixcoac is served by the Mixcoac station of the Mexico City metro, lines 7 and 12.
Education
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.Simon Bolivar University is in Mixcoac, as is its affiliated private primary and secondary school, Colegio Simón Bolívar.
Colegio La Salle Simón Bolívar, another private school, has two campuses in Mixcoac.[4]
The Mixcoac Campus of Colegio Williams is also in Mixcoac.[5]
Famous residents
Famous residents of Mixcoac have included poets Octavio Paz and Hart Crane, chemist Luis E. Miramontes co-inventor of the progestin norethisterone used in one of the first three oral contraceptives, Mexican president Valentín Gómez Farías, director José Solé, and authors José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, whose house is used for classrooms of the Universidad Panamericana and Katherine Anne Porter, the American story writer and novelist, who later translated one of Lizardi's works.
Gallery
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Parroquia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán.jpg
Parroquía de Santo Domingo de Guzmán
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Parroquia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, interior.jpg
Interior of the Parroquía
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Atrio Santo Domingo Mixcoac.jpg
Atrium of the Parroquía
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Parroquia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán (Insurgentes Mixcoac) 2012-09-30 13-50-13.jpg
Capilla de la Virgen del Rayo
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Parroquia de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, patio.jpg
Claustro del ex-convento de Santo Domingo
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FVH 00082 1 Parroquia de San Juan Evangelista (Insurgentes Mixcoac).jpg
Parroquia de San Juan Evangelista y nuestra señora de Guadalupe
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Fachada Obraje.jpg
Façade of the Obraje de Mixcoac (textile factory)
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Casa de la Cultura Juan Rulfo, entrada principal..jpg
Centro Cultural Juan Rulfo, former Ayuntamiento (City Hall) of Mixcoac
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Portales de Mixcoac.jpg
Portales de Mixcoac, former Banderas family house
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Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. José María Luis Mora 01.jpg
Instituto Mora, house of Valentín Gómez Farías
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Casa lizardi.jpg
House of José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi
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Casa del portico Mixcoac.jpg
Casa del Portico, now the IBBY Library
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Casa de la Campana.jpg
Casa de la Campana
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Casa Serralde.JPG
Casa Serralde
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Callejon del diablo.jpg
Callejón del diablo ("Devil's Alley")
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Muro de la Paz.jpg
Muro de la Paz ("Peace Wall")
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Secundaria Mixcoac.jpg
Leopoldo Ayala high school
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Fuente símbolo de identidad histórica de Mixcoac.jpg
Fountain symbolizing Mixcoac's historic identity
Sources
References
- ↑ "Mixcoac", Barrios Mágicos, Mexico City Tourism Secretariat
- ↑ "Programa Parcial de Desarrollo Urbano de Insurgentes Mixcoac", Daily Record of the Assembly, Year 3, No. 50, Annex 1, Mexican Federal District Legislative Assembly
- ↑ "SANTO DOMINGO DE GUZMAN CHURCH AND FORMER CONVENT", SECTUR DF, Mexico City Tourism Secretariat
- ↑ "Contacto." Colegio La Salle Simón Bolívar. Retrieved on April 14, 2016. "Galicia #8 Col. Insurgentes Mixcoac C.P. 03920 México, D.F." and "Av. Río Mixcoac #275 Col. Florida C.P. 01030 México, D.F."
- ↑ "CAMPUS." Colegio Williams. Retrieved on April 15, 2016. "Campus Mixcoac Empresa No. 8 Col. Mixcoac Deleg. Benito Juárez México D.F., C.P. 03910"
External links
- Mixcoac archeological site (in Spanish)
- History of Mixcoac (in Spanish)
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