Once an Indian kingdom, Coyoacan means "place of the coyotes." After the Spanish conquerors had razed the Aztec capital, they withdrew to Coyoacan until the island city could again be made habitable. Almost overnight Coyoacan became a Spanish town, and many buildings of the 16th and 17th centuries not only remain standing but continue in use today.
Plaza Hidalgo and the Centenario Garden together form the main plaza of Coyoacan. The house
said to have belonged to Cortez (but doubtful because it dates from the 17th century) faces this shady, flower filled area.
On the walls of a chapel in an adjoining patio are modern murals depicting the Conquest.
Across the plaza from the so called Cortez house stands La Parroquia (Parish Church), constructed in the 16th century. To the right of its facade an arch gives access to the monastery of which it was a part.
Two other 17th century homes bear the names of Pedro do Alvarado and Diego de Oraz, two of Cortez' top lieutenants. The houses are both Moorish in appearance, similar to the one attributed to Cortez. But if either Alvarado or Oraz ever lived in the houses originally erected on the sites it was only briefly, for they were both fully occupied elsewhere in consummating the Conquest.
At some distance from the central plaza are two museums well worth a visit. One is the Frido Kahlo Museum on the northeast corner of Allende and Londres, established in the home the artist shared for 25 years with her husband, Diego Rivera, until her death in 1954. Open daily, except Monday, from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M., it displays the works of both artists plus archaeological pieces collected by them.
The other is the Churubusco Museum installed in the Churubusco Monastery at the corner of General Anaya and 20 de Agosto. The first building raised by the Franciscans in 1524 was rebuilt and enlarged in the 17tb century and again in the 19th. During the U.S. Mexican War of 1847, the monastery became a fortress, falling to the invaders on August 20,1847. Now a museum devoted chiefly to relics of that war, it is open Monday through Saturday, 10 A.M. to 8 P.M.; Sunday, 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. and 3 to 5 P.M.
Once an Indian kingdom, Coyoacan means "place of the coyotes." After the Spanish conquerors had razed the Aztec capital, they withdrew to Coyoacan until the island city could again be made habitable. Almost overnight Coyoacan became a Spanish town, and many buildings of the 16th and 17th centuries not only remain standing but continue in use today.
Two other 17th century homes bear the names of Pedro do Alvarado and Diego de Oraz, two of Cortez' top lieutenants. The houses are both Moorish in appearance, similar to the one attributed to Cortez. But if either Alvarado or Oraz ever lived in the houses originally erected on the sites it was only briefly, for they were both fully occupied elsewhere in consummating the Conquest.
