The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary of Mexico City is the largest and oldest cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 and seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico is a metropolitan diocese, responsible for the suffragan Dioceses of Atlacomulco, Cuernavaca, Toluca and Tenancingo. It was elevated on February 12, 1546....

. It is situated atop the former Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

 sacred precinct near the Templo Mayor on the northern side of the Plaza de la Constitución in downtown Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

. The cathedral was built in sections from 1573 to 1813 around the original church that was constructed soon after the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlán, eventually replacing it entirely.