Pre Hispanic The ancient civilizations of Mexico produced some of the most spectacular, eye pleasing architecture ever built. At sites such as Teotihuacan near Mexico City, Monte Alban in Oaxaca, and Chichen Itza and Uxmal in Yucatan, you can still see fairly intact pre Hispanic cities. Their spectacular ceremonial centers, used by the religious and political elite, were designed to impress, with great stone pyramids, palaces and ball courts. Pyramids usually functioned as the bases for small shrines on their summits. Mexico's three biggest pyramids are the Piramide del Sol and Piramide de la Luna, both at Teotihuacan, and the Great Pyramid of Cholula, near Puebla.

There are many differences in style between pre Hispanic civilizations: while Teotihuacan, Monte Alban and Aztec buildings were relatively simple, designed to awe by their grand scale, Mayan architecture paid more attention to aesthetics, with intricately patterned facades, delicate 'combs' on temple roofs, and sinuous carvings. Buildings at Mayan sites such as Uxmal, Chichen Itza and Palenque are some of the most beautiful human creations in Mexico.)

Colonial One of the first preoccupations of the Spanish was to replace pagan temples with Christian churches. A classic case is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, now topped by a small colonial church. Many of the fine mansions, churches, monasteries and plazas that today contribute so much to Mexico's beauty were created during the 300 years of Spanish rule. Most were in basically Spanish styles, but with unique local variations.

Gothic & Renaissance These styles dominated in Mexico in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Gothic, which originated in medieval Europe, is typified by soaring buttresses, pointed arches, clusters of round columns and ribbed ceiling vaults. The Renaissance style saw a return to the disciplined ancient Greek and Roman ideals of harmony and proportion: columns and shapes such as the square and circle predominated. The usual Renaissance style in Mexico was plateresque from platero (silversmith), because its decoration resembled the elaborate ornamentation that went into silverwork. Plateresque was commonly used on the facades, of buildings, particularly church doorways, which had round arches bordered by classical columns and stone