When Salvador Dalí made a short visit to Mexico he exclaimed, “There is no way I’m going back to Mexico. I can’t stand to be in a country that is more surrealist than my paintings”. Indeed, he was right, enclosed within the borders of the country you will find sprawling cities, quaint little villages, hot deserts, humid jungles, and turquoise seas. Its inhabitants breathe its history and use it as a tool to understand their present and plan for the future. Mexico’s history is bathed with war and blood, with countless men and women dying to preserve their culture and national identity. Their names are not only immortalized in the pages of books, they are daily remembered by pedestrians who walk down the streets named after these historic icons.
Understanding Mexico means to be aware of its contradictions.Peace and violence coexist in the same place, and the past and present collide in the most unusual ways, from exotic cuisine to historical landmarks dotted across the country. Mexico has led and continuous to lead a treacherous path to modernity.
Its landscapes, cobbled streets, people, and buildings has been captured by many photographers across the decades, giving an unprecedented insight into the evolution of the capital city. If you’re planning to visit Mexico you will find these pictures very interesting, as they show the changes in some of the most important places of the country. We invite you discover the differences between the past and present in your next visit.
Manuel Ramos captured Babe “The Human Fly” White, an intrepid man who attempted to climb the west tower of the Metropolitan Cathedral in 1922. Ramos was not the only photographer reporting this event, this iconic photo shows the back of a man who was taking a picture of the audience watching White. At the end, “The Human Fly” was able to climb the cathedral and the flagpole located in the Zocalo (city center).
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In 1911, the French pilot, Roland Garros visited Mexico City and Monterrey to participate in various air shows during the Porfirian regime. In this postcard we see Garros flying over the Metropolitan Cathedral and Plaza de la Constitucion. During his visit, he participated in bomb attack demonstrations, where bags of oranges fell over Mexican soldiers posted in Cerro de la Estrella. The picture is credited to Manuel Ramos
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One of the most iconic buildings in Mexico City is Palacio de Bellas Artes, Palace of Fine Arts in English. It is a historical building every tourist must visit. Circa 1909 the Palace was left unfinished and stores began to surround this imposing structure. With the passing of time, these old stores disappeared and its façade kept changing. Nowadays, visitors will be surprised to see how much it has changed.
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This picture shows the construction of a bull ring called Plaza de Toros, the building was inaugurated in 1907.It was the most representative building of the area until 1946. It was located on land belonging to María Magdalena Dávalos de Bracamontes y Orozco, the Countess of Miravalle, whose lands stretched from what is now Colonia Roma to Tacubaya. Before the Countess acquired the land, it was named “Santa Catarina del Arenal.”
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On September 6, 1971 a man threw himself from the Torre Latinoamericana (Latin-American Tower) and crashed on the ninth floor. For a time this skyscraper was the tallest building in the world, excluding the US. The photo is credited to Enrique Metinides.
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The fateful morning of September 19, 1985, Mexico City was awakened by an earthquake of a magnitude of 8.0. It devastated the city and its inhabitants. One of the important buildings of the city, the General Hospital, collapsed. The gynaecology clinic and the Medical Residence department were completely destroyed, 295 people died.
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The surrounding areas of Mexico City have drastically changed. At the beginning, as this picture shows, the capital was surrounded by agave plants that were used in the production of the alcoholic beverage, pulque. Haciendas, also known as plantations, were responsible for administrating the crops.
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This picture shows a group of people sitting on Tlaloc’s monolith. The stone monument was originally located in San Miguel Caotlinchan in the State of Mexico, and was finally moved to the Museum of Anthropology in 1964. A steel frame beam had to be built to raise the monolotih, and for its transfer, the anthropologists used a heavy duty trailer truck. After eight hours on the road, the stone monument finally arrived to the capital city.
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The Doors visited Mexico at the end of June in 1969. The band had a tour around the places all visitors need to see, Garibaldi (a square where Mariachis are located), The Museum of Anthropology, and Teotihuacan. Morrison always felt a connection with the mystical, and in this picture we can see him walking around the Quetzatcoatl Pyramid in Teotihuacan.
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“Now I eagerly await for death” affirmed Borges while he walked around the Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan in 1973. During his visit to the archaeological site, and while posing for the photographer, he realized he had already written his best work.
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Guanajuato is a fascinating tourist destination. The state is famous for having an extensive collection of mummies; nevertheless, 100 years ago the catacombs where the mummies were displayed didn’t receive as much attention as they do now. The first visitors felt as if they were in the middle of a horror movie.
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Rumor has it that when Pancho Villa entered the Capital City during the Mexican Revolution, he visited a bar named La Opera. After a few drinks and living up to his standards of ruthless revolutionary leader, he took out his gun and shot the ceiling . The bullet hole is still visible to this day and the place became a popular tourist attraction.
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This picture was taken in 1867 in the spot where Mexico’s second Emperor, Maximilian was executed. He died in El Cerro de las Campanas in the state of Queretaro, with his death, the deposed president Juarez and his army took over the government and once again made Mexico a Republic.
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The heart of the city, also known as the Zocalo, is an important meeting point for tourists and locals. Before taking the center stage for artists and political activists, it was a park. The Zocalo was surrounded by beautiful streetlamps, and at its center there was a kiosk.
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Manuel Ramos once again witnessed history in the making. In February 9, 1913 a group of rebels from the Military School of Tlalpan, raised their weapons against the government of Francisco I. Madero, the president who overthrew the dictator Porfirio Díaz. They planned to take over the National Palace. The soldiers defending the Palace attacked the rebels. This picture shows the bodies of the fallen cadets in the Zocalo. At the end of the skirmish, Madero was assassinated and Victoriano Huerta became president.
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This image shows the visit of the XVII International Congress of Americanists to Teotihuacan in 1910
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An indigenous population called the Yaquis began a revolution against the colonization of the Yaqui and Mayo River regions. When the rebels surrendered in 1897, the federal government forced them to plea loyalty to president Porfirio Díaz. This picture shows their surrender.
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Tlacihualtépetl means handmade mountain in the Aztec language, Náhuatl. The base of this pyramid is the largest in the world, over 400m in each side. The Spanish tried to destroy the pyramid multiple times and after their failed attempts, they built a catholic church where the Virgen de los Remedios (Lady of Good Remedy) is venerated.
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Agustín and Victor Casasola were the first photojournalists in Mexico to capture the most important social movements. This picture portrays Villa sitting on the presidential chair next to Zapata. According to legends, Zapata refused to sit on the chair because he believed it turned men crazy. In 1924, both revolutionary men were murdered.
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This photo was on the cover of the newspaper El Día on October 3, 1968, the day after the Tlatelolco massacre. The newspaper presented evidence of military involvement on that fateful day.
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In 1910, Porfirio Díaz inaugurated the Angel of Independence to commemorate the centenary of the Mexican Independence and his birthday. However, 47 years later the Winged Victory fell due to an earthquake and had to be restored. The monument has become an iconic landmark of the city.
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The Aztec’s gods told their people to establish their empire in a place where they found an eagle resting on a cactus. The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico’s City) was set up on a lake. This photo reminds us of that time. In 1950 the city was completely flooded, and it won’t be the first or last time it happens.
