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On the road to the Basilica de la Guadalupe, you
could stop at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (between avenue
Flores Magon and Manuel Gonzales). It is both an old and new place.
The plaza has been laid out in the seventies as part of the general
plan of urban renovation. But the site, from an historic point of
view, is one of the most venerable of the city. At the time of the
Aztecs, it was the center of Tlatelolco, where lived, at the origin,
a community different from the one of Tenochtitlán (Aztec
name of Mexico City). This riparian city, an isolated small state, was
annexed by Axayacatl, father of Moctezuma II, in 1473 and when the
Spaniards arrived it was a trade center. You could see, nowadays,
the vestiges of a pyramid. It is there where the Aztecs were defeated
for the last time. And it where was achieved in 1609 the Church
of Santiago Tlatelolco, one of the first Christian sanctuary of
New Spain. They used stones from the demolished Aztec constructions.
The Aztec and colonial cultures are mixed on this place. At the
right of the church, the old Franciscan monastery was the first
college for young noble Indians where they were taught history,
philosophy and Latin. To go there, take the metro until the station
"Tlatelolco", exit on the place with the same name, cross
a playground and follow the "Portico Rodrigo Caso" to
walk under the avenue Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas.
The devotion to the « black virgin of Guadalupe » is so big that Mexicans themselves say they are « Guadalupanos » before being catholic. This devotion shows with the long walks on knees to the entrance of the basilica praying or reading the bible. It could take 2 hours. The atmosphere is unique, full of ardor and prayers. Once inside the cathedral, people are in line to kneel in front of the picture of the virgin de Guadalupe. Left picture : the Guadalupe (old basilica)
The Museo de la Basilica de Guadalupe (open 10AM-6PM Tue-Sun, $3) is located in an annex of the old basilica. You can admire religious paintings and offerings and ex-voto religion left by the believers over the centuries. Close by the basilica, is the baroque chapel of
the Pocito (chapel of the little well) built in the eighteenth century
(open 6AM-8PM) at the exact place where a miraculous source appeared.
(It is dry right now). The water of this source was supposed having
miraculous powers. The chapel has a dome covered with blue and white
tiles (azulejos). The walls are in cut stones, volcanic
rocks. Inside, there are little scenes with angels in pastel colors.
At the top of the Tepeyac Hill, the chapel of the
Roses is built where Juan Diego had his first vision.
The Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros is a kind of temple of arts, which Siqueiros adorned with audacity on every wall and ceiling. The fresco, « the March of Humanity », is a combined sculpture and painting of 2500 m2 in three dimensions, made of metal and acrylic over asbestos cement. It is called polyforum because it surrounds a theater, an art gallery and an exhibit of popular art. It opened in 1971. It is officially a cultural center but it appears like the personal museum of the the artist. There is a sound and light show on weekends.
Going south, you discover the Teatro de los
Insurgentes, with a big mosaic due to Diego Rivera, telling
the history of Mexico through the portraits of his great men. You
can especially admire the character of Cantinflas, national hero
of the popular comedy. Rivera drew him as the Christ in the center
of the mural, giving the wealth of the rich to the poor.
Left picture : old and new basilica de Guadalupe
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The first chock for the new comer is the ardor of the pilgrims of
the Basilica de Guadalupe (open daily 7AM-9PM). Chapel of Tepeyac,
colonial basilica, contemporary basilica : the site of the Guadalupe
is a pilling up of religious monuments combining the actual gigantism
of cultural art with the most delicious edifice of Hispano-Mexicana
baroque.
But
the Guadalupe, on Sunday morning, it is also for the stranger, a
big emotion : From everywhere in the country, in the continent,
all the social classes rush on the moving walkway that passes in
front of the Patron Saint of Indian America, Christianized because
of her appearance to the most humble farmer. You could meet men
and women from the other part of the country, crossing the vast
place on their knees to the basilica. You could see corteges of
people carrying on their shoulders stacks of flowers and fruits
set in triumphal arches. With the banners, songs and hymns, the
devotion for Guadalupe has an air of permanent crusade where are
mixed the primitive Indian cults and a Christianity from the nineteenth
century. 
