Palace District — 400 Years in 1 km

From Bellas Artes to Zócalo is 1 km and 400 years of quarry stone: every palace uses a different stone and tells a different political crisis.

Story facts:

• The House of Tiles wasn’t always blue: the Counts of Orizaba clad it in 1737 to show they could mule Talavera from Puebla.
• The Postal Palace (1907) is by Adamo Boari (same as Bellas Artes): Venetian inside, Renaissance outside. No one agrees.
• The Cathedral took 240 years: started Gothic, went Baroque, finished Neoclassical. Each door is a different style.

Step-by-step (1.4 km, cobblestone, go early):

1. Palacio de Bellas Artes — Carrara marble + copper dome. See Boari’s stair. 10 min.
2. House of Tiles / Sanborns — enter patio, see Orozco mural (1925) upstairs. Grab coffee if you want. 15 min.
3. Postal Palace → Mining Palace — compare gilded iron vs pink quarry. At Mining Palace look for meteorites at entrance. 20 min.
4. Madero St → Zócalo / Templo Mayor — Madero has been pedestrian since 2010. End at Templo Mayor model. 30 min.

Easy context: The Historic Center is a palimpsest: the Mexica grid remains below, Spaniards built above with the same stone. That’s why the Cathedral sinks 8 cm a year: it sits on the lake.

Tip: Tue–Thu 9am. Shorter queues, side light for facades, everything open.