Mexico City revisited 3

One day I visited the Museum of Modern Art in Chapultepec Park to see a collection of 50 major Mexican pieces of art, pieces by the biggies:

Rivera,

,

Siqueiros

Kahlo

Gerardo Murillo Cornado aka Dr Atl

O'Gorman, Clemente Orozco. Nice exhibition.

Another obligatory sight in DF that I'd neglected on previous visits was the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe. 'Twas a long subway ride but exceeded my expectations. It's an immense site with a huge open plaza

around which are located the old basilicia of Guadalupe,

the new Basillica designed by Pedro Ramírez Vásquez (who also designed the Archaeological Museum in Mexico City), capacity, 50,000.

small churches for the Indios

and a small church on the hill.

Our Lady of Guadalupe (also called Our Lady of Tepeyac or the Virgin of Guadalupe) is a manifestation of the Virgin Mary who first appeared on Tepeyac Hill outside Mexico city to a native Mexican peasant named Juan Diego in 1531. In the centre of the square is a bell tower where, at regular intervals, bells ring, recorded music plays, two large doors slide open and a quite cheesy mechanical enactment of the mythological story unfolds in several acts.

The Virgin asked Juan Diego to speak to the bishop and tell him that she wished for a temple to be built in that place in her honor.

The bishop required a sign as proof. Juan Diego returned to the Virgin and she told him to pick some roses and carry them in his tilma (cloak). When he went back to the bishop he opened his cloak, the flowers fell out and there was an image of the Virgin miraculously imprinted on the garment.

I've heard it said that the Villa de Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic site in the world. It may or may not be but it attracts many millions every year and around 2 million on December 12 alone.

I spent several hours there, walking around the grounds, looking inside the different churches, walking up the hill and admiring the lovely gardens and views.

In the Virgin mercado - Saint Frida?

McVirgin?

 

I understand that masses are conducted pretty much constantly in the new Basilica and I got in on the tail end of one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mexico City revisited 4 - post office, Franz Meyer

The Palacio de Correos de Mexico (Postal Palace of Mexico City), Mexico City's main post office, is quite a grand old building and so deserved a visit on my way to the Centro one day.

Another highly recommended attraction that I'd not yet visited was the Museo Franz Meyer housed in a former monastery and hospital. Adjacent are two churches and, yes, you're not imagining it, there's quite a lean to one of them.

The museum opened in 1986 to house, display and maintain Latin America's largest collection of decorative arts. The collection was amassed by stockbroker and financial professional Franz Meyer who collected fine artworks, books, furniture, ceramics, textiles and many other types of decorative items over fifty years of his life. A large portion comes from Europe and Asia but most comes from Mexico itself with items dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Many pieces in the collection are fine handcrafts, such as textiles and Talavera pottery, and they are important because they are items that often did not survive because most did consider them worth preserving. The first thing of note was the huge collection of framed poster art displayed around the entire circumference of the interior courtyard covering a wide range of subject matter:

environmental,

political,

humour,

shows, advertising

art,

etc,

There was a a display of that Mexican style skeleton art by a Ruth D Lechuga,

a show of modern, and quite whimsical, jewelry,

 

And a very beautiful library and collection of furnishings.

 

 

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