Tlaxcoaque
Encyclopedia
Tlaxcoaque is a plaza located in the historic center of Mexico City
which has given its name to both the 17th century church that is on it and the blocks that surround it. Historically this plaza and the church that sits on it have marked the southern edge of Mexico City
, and today it is on the border of the historic center and Colonia Obrera
. The church and plaza are somewhat isolated from the rest of the center due to the construction of wide streets, such as 20 de Noviembre and Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, that separate them from the surrounding buildings. Another notable building in this area is the police surveillance station, which was infamous in the 1970s as a place where detainees were tortured. This stopped after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake
exposed handcuffed bodies which had evidence of torture on them. Today, the area around this plaza is semi-deserted outside of work hours and is considered to be a high-crime area. The church itself has experienced break-ins.
in 1910. From Tlaxocaque, one can see all the way to the Zocalo
. The plaza has been traditionally considered to be the south entrance to the historic center of Mexico City and for much of the city’s history, this place marked the southern border. Today, it is on the border of the historic center and Colonia Obrera.
At the center of the plaza is the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception of Tlaxcoaque. It was constructed in the 17th century of tezontle
stone and quarried sandstone. At one time, this church held the remains of Hernán Cortés
. The chapel contains arches of sandstone and figures of indigenous angels. On the main altar is an image of the Immaculate Conception
, dressed in blue and white flanked by a image of the Sacred Heart
and of Saint Joseph
.
The church and plaza are now isolated from the rest of the historic center due in part to the construction of 20 de Noviembre Street, which destroyed the nearby parts of the Hospital de Jesús Nazareno
and convent of San Bernardo
. It is now immediately surrounded by the wide streets of Chimalpopoca, 20 de Noviembre, Fray Servando Teresa de Mier and San Antonio Abad, with an underground parking facility underneath the building. The chapel was declared a historic monument on 9 February 1931. In 2001, the church was broken into three times and robbed. The break ins cause significant damage to the old wooden doors of the church as well as the loss of monies and several religious artifacts including a sculpture of San Caralampio.
and then Police Chief Luis Cueto Ramirez. In the 1970s, it was home to the Dirección de Investigación para la Prevención de la Delincuencia (Direction of Investigation for the Prevention of Crime) y del Servicio Secreto (Secret Service), who had been accused of torturing detainees during interrogations. In the 1985 earthquake, part of this building collapsed, and handcuffed bodies were found which had marks indicated that they had been tortured. When the scandal was exposed and the building was rebuilt, it no longer held these two agencies. The building also housed a Police Museum but since 1985, the museum was closed and the collection has remained in storage. There were plans to reopen the museum at a different location in the late 1980s but this never occurred. Today, it houses the Dirección General de Tránsito y el Centro de Monitoreo de la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (SSP), which deals mostly with traffic law enforcement and public surveillance. It also houses the ERUM, the major ambulance service for the city and a heliport.
for safety reasons. The area is ranked sixth in delinquent activity in the Cuauhtémoc borough
. Tlaxcoaque is also known for semi-permanent street vendors who have become very territorial. Efforts to eliminate street vendors have resulted in threats to public officials, especially those associated with the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, mostly through anonymous phone calls. This has prompted security details for higher-level administrators and the jailing of several suspects.
One of the reasons for the efforts to clear vendors from here and the rest of the historic center is the 2010 celebrations of the Bicentennial of Mexico’s Independence and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution
. Tlaxcoaque was slated for redevelopment, with the police station to be torn down to make way for the Plaza Bicenntenial and the construction of new multifamily housing around the plaza. However, due to financial problems, these plans have been indefinitely suspended.
Historic center of Mexico City
The historic center of Mexico City is also known as the "Centro" or "Centro Histórico." This neighborhood is focused on the Zócalo or main plaza in Mexico City and extends in all directions for a number of blocks with its farthest extent being west to the Alameda Central The Zocalo is the largest...
which has given its name to both the 17th century church that is on it and the blocks that surround it. Historically this plaza and the church that sits on it have marked the southern edge of 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...
, and today it is on the border of the historic center and Colonia Obrera
Colonia Obrera
Colonia Obrera is an administrative neighborhood of the borough of Cuauhtémoc in the center of Mexico City. It was established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and became home to many artisans and industrial workmen...
. The church and plaza are somewhat isolated from the rest of the center due to the construction of wide streets, such as 20 de Noviembre and Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, that separate them from the surrounding buildings. Another notable building in this area is the police surveillance station, which was infamous in the 1970s as a place where detainees were tortured. This stopped after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake
1985 Mexico City earthquake
The 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck Mexico City on the early morning of 19 September 1985 at around 7:19 AM , caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and serious damage to the greater Mexico City Area. The complete seismic event...
exposed handcuffed bodies which had evidence of torture on them. Today, the area around this plaza is semi-deserted outside of work hours and is considered to be a high-crime area. The church itself has experienced break-ins.
The chapel
Plaza Tlaxcoaque with its small chapel was constructed in the 17th century. It marks the beginning of 20 de Noviembre Avenue, which was built in 1936 to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the armed uprising of Francisco I. MaderoFrancisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
in 1910. From Tlaxocaque, one can see all the way to the Zocalo
Zócalo
The Zócalo is the main plaza or square in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City. The plaza used to be known simply as the "Main Square" or "Arms Square," and today its formal name is Plaza de la Constitución...
. The plaza has been traditionally considered to be the south entrance to the historic center of Mexico City and for much of the city’s history, this place marked the southern border. Today, it is on the border of the historic center and Colonia Obrera.
At the center of the plaza is the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception of Tlaxcoaque. It was constructed in the 17th century of tezontle
Tezontle
Tezontle is a porous, extrusive, igneous, volcanic rock used extensively in construction in Mexico. It is usually reddish in color.-Uses:Tezontle can be mixed with concrete to form lightweight concrete blocks, or mixed with cement to create stucco finishes. Tezontle is often used as the top...
stone and quarried sandstone. At one time, this church held the remains of Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
. The chapel contains arches of sandstone and figures of indigenous angels. On the main altar is an image of the Immaculate Conception
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...
, dressed in blue and white flanked by a image of the Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of His divine love for Humanity....
and of Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
.
The church and plaza are now isolated from the rest of the historic center due in part to the construction of 20 de Noviembre Street, which destroyed the nearby parts of the Hospital de Jesús Nazareno
Hospital de Jesús Nazareno
The Church and Hospital of Jesús Nazareno are supposedly located at the spot where Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II met for the first time in 1519, which was then the beginning of the causeway leading to Iztapalapa. Cortés ordered the hospital built to tend to soldiers wounded fighting with the...
and convent of San Bernardo
Church of San Bernardo, Mexico City
The Church of San Bernardo stands at the corner of Avenida 20 de Noviembre and Venustiano Carranza Street just south of the Zocalo or main plaza of Mexico City. It was part of a convent of the same name that was founded in 1636, but was closed along with all convents and monasteries during the La...
. It is now immediately surrounded by the wide streets of Chimalpopoca, 20 de Noviembre, Fray Servando Teresa de Mier and San Antonio Abad, with an underground parking facility underneath the building. The chapel was declared a historic monument on 9 February 1931. In 2001, the church was broken into three times and robbed. The break ins cause significant damage to the old wooden doors of the church as well as the loss of monies and several religious artifacts including a sculpture of San Caralampio.
The police station
On the corner of 20 de Noviembre and Fray Servando Teresa de Mier streets is the police and emergency services building that was inaugurated in 1957 by President Adolfo Ruiz CortinesAdolfo Ruiz Cortines
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines was President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party he was one of the oldest presidents of Mexico...
and then Police Chief Luis Cueto Ramirez. In the 1970s, it was home to the Dirección de Investigación para la Prevención de la Delincuencia (Direction of Investigation for the Prevention of Crime) y del Servicio Secreto (Secret Service), who had been accused of torturing detainees during interrogations. In the 1985 earthquake, part of this building collapsed, and handcuffed bodies were found which had marks indicated that they had been tortured. When the scandal was exposed and the building was rebuilt, it no longer held these two agencies. The building also housed a Police Museum but since 1985, the museum was closed and the collection has remained in storage. There were plans to reopen the museum at a different location in the late 1980s but this never occurred. Today, it houses the Dirección General de Tránsito y el Centro de Monitoreo de la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (SSP), which deals mostly with traffic law enforcement and public surveillance. It also houses the ERUM, the major ambulance service for the city and a heliport.
Crime and possible redevelopment
As the area is no longer residential, the streets here become nearly empty from 6pm to the early morning on weekdays and all day on weekends, and during these hours, it is considered to be dangerous. Those who work the night shifts at the ERUM ambulance service state that they do not come to work alone, but always as a group from Metro station Pino SuárezMetro Pino Suárez
Metro Pino Suárez is a station on Line 1 and Line 2 of the Mexico City Metro system. It is located in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, on the southern part of the city centre....
for safety reasons. The area is ranked sixth in delinquent activity in the Cuauhtémoc borough
Cuauhtémoc, D.F.
Cuauhtémoc, named after the former Aztec leader, is one of the 16 boroughs of the Federal district of Mexico City. It consists of the oldest parts of the city, extending over what was the entire city in the 1920s. This area is the historic and culture center of the city, although it is not the...
. Tlaxcoaque is also known for semi-permanent street vendors who have become very territorial. Efforts to eliminate street vendors have resulted in threats to public officials, especially those associated with the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública, mostly through anonymous phone calls. This has prompted security details for higher-level administrators and the jailing of several suspects.
One of the reasons for the efforts to clear vendors from here and the rest of the historic center is the 2010 celebrations of the Bicentennial of Mexico’s Independence and the Centennial of the Mexican Revolution
Celebration of Mexican political anniversaries in 2010
In 2010, Mexico celebrated both the 200th anniversary of its Independence and 100th anniversary of its Revolution. The entire year was proclaimed by President Felipe Calderón as "Año de la Patria", or "Year of the Nation." 16 September 1810 is the day of the "Grito de Dolores" or Miguel Hidalgo's...
. Tlaxcoaque was slated for redevelopment, with the police station to be torn down to make way for the Plaza Bicenntenial and the construction of new multifamily housing around the plaza. However, due to financial problems, these plans have been indefinitely suspended.