Avenida Juarez

Continuing westward, Madero becomes Avenida Juarez. The first building on the right after crossing San Juan de Letran is the Palacio de Bellas Artes, home of the world famous Ballet Folklorico, the National Symphony orchestra, and classic and modern ballet companies. It is also the opera house. Information on all events appears in The News, Mexico City's English language daily, and in give away tourist publications. Some of the best murals ever painted by Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros, and Tamayo adorn the stairwell and walls; special art exhibits are held in the various salons. Your eyes will be caught by the 22 ton glass mosaic curtain by Tiffany, installed in 1910.

Begun in 1904 and built on land reclaimed from Lake Texcoco, the massive marble structure has sunk 6 feet below street level. The sinking has caused spectators' seats to tilt forward; at performances you may feel that you have to hold on to keep from falling out of your chair.

Alameda Park, immediately west of the palace, is two by four blocks in size and the largest green area in downtown Mexico City. Establishment of a park on the one time lake bed was decreed in 1572. In 1973 the park was completely refurbished its broad walkways paved with pink stone blocks, its several fountains cleaned and repaired, and its numerous classical bronze and marble statues burnished. Comfortable benches and attractive lighting fixtures were placed along the paths and on the periphery of the park.

Early in the colonial era the stake for burning victims of the Holy Inquisition was set up on the west side of today's Alameda. Throughout the 19th century the park was enclosed by a wall and reserved for the upper classes who promenaded there on Sunday in carriages or on horseback. Sunday in the Alameda is also the subject of Diego Rivera's mural (1947) in the lobby of the Hotel del Prado, across the street at Juarez 70. You'll enjoy the mural's (and the park's) colorful Sunday sprawl.

Midway along the Juarez side of the park stands the imposing Juarez Hemicycle, dedicated in 1910 to Benito Juarez, president of Mexico during the War of Reform and the Empire of Maximilian.

The Museum of Colonial Paintings, facing the west side of the Alameda at Mora 7, is housed in the 16th century Church of San Diego. Hidalgo Street borders the park on the north, and at No. 85 is the Hotel Cortez, dating from 1780. It was built by the Augustinians as an inn for pilgrims beside one of the causeways that linked the capital to the mainland.

One block east, two 18th century churches, San Juan de Dios and Santa Veracruz, face each other across a small sunken plaza.

The National Museum of Popular Arts on the south side of Juarez next to the Hotel Alameda occupies the old Church of Corpus Christi, part of a convent founded in 1724 for noble Indian women. On the south side, too, is a profusion of jewelry and handicraft shops.

Popular arts are well represented at two locations in the last block of Juarez before its intersection with Pasco de la Reforma. On the ground floor of the building at Juarez 92, sales exhibitions lasting from 4 to 6 weeks are offered. Each is devoted either to one type of craft object from different areas of the Republic textiles, ceramics, basketry, woodworking, and so on or to the varied products of a single state.

Across the street at Juarez 89 is a new museumsalesroom, opened in 1974. The setting, a charmingly restored colonial building, started life as a convent. Today, its two spacious floors are filled with a vast array of popular arts chosen for their authenticity and superb workmanship. The National Handicrafts Fund operates the museum and also arranges the six to eight exhibits staged each year in the museum.