Museum of Mexico City
Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico | |
Façade of the palace | |
Former name | House of the counts of Santiago de Calimaya |
|---|---|
| Established | 31 October 1964 |
| Location | Historic center of Mexico City, Mexico City |
| Coordinates | 19°25′45.12″N 99°7′57.17″W / 19.4292000°N 99.1325472°W |
| Type | History museum |
| Director | José María Espinasa Yllades |
| Architect | Francisco Guerrero y Torres |
| Owner | Mexico City government |
| Public transit access | Zócalo/Tenochtitlan metro station, Sistema de Transporte Colectivo |
| Website | www |
The Museum of Mexico City (Spanish: Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico) is located at Pino Suarez 30, a few blocks south of the Zocalo, on what was the Iztapalapa Causeway, near where Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II met for the first time. This building used to be the palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya, who were the descendants of one of the conquistadors with Cortés. The house was extensively remodeled during the colony to much the appearance that it has today and remained in the family until 1960, when the Mexico City government acquired it from them in order to found the Museum that is found there today. The museum contains a number of elements of the old palace as well as 26 rooms dedicated to the history and development of Mexico City from Aztec times to the present. It also contains a library and the studios of painter Joaquín Clausell, who lived here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The building was completed in 1779 and the descendants of the counts lived in it until 1960. The architect that completed the palace was Francisco Antonio de Guerrero y Torres.