Mexico City: Tlatelolco - Plaza de las Tres Culturas

Mexico City Vacation Guide

Hotel Reservations & Tours

Tlatelolco - Plaza de las Tres Cultural

(Tlatelolco Tour)

Tlatelolco Ruins once an Aztec Marketplace Centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, Tlatelolco was originally the market district of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs, led by Cuauhtémoc, were finally confined to Tlatelolco after they didn't surrender to the Spaniards in 1521 and were defeated and slaughtered. Over 40,000 Aztecs died here.

The Plaza de los Tres Culturas (Plaza of Three Cultures) is an area located in the city, not far from el Centro, with Aztec temples, a Spanish Catholic Church and Mexico's Foreign Ministry building. These three cultures represent Pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial and the modern independent world.

Santiago Church Tlatelolco is located at the northern end of the Paseo de la Reforma, about 1 mile north of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. This area (tla-tel-ohl-coh) was the domain of Cuauhtémoc (kwa-oo-teh-mock) the last Aztec emperor before the conquest, and the sister city of Tenochtitlan.

Iglesia de Santiago y Mercado. Built at the site of the ancient Aztec market. Behind the church are large apartment housing projects. Inside the church there is a plaque stating that in 1521 the Aztecs fell to the Spaniards leading to the birth of the mestizos of today's Mexico. Mestizos are Spanish and Indian mixed blood.

Highrise apartments you'll see throughout the Tlatelolco area

Monument to remember the Tlatelolco Massacre in 1968 Olympics In modern times, it was in this plaza that the Mexican army massacred several hundred students in 1968 protesting the '68 Olympics. In addition, the 1985 earthquake destroyed several high-rise apartments in Tlatelolco which killed hundreds.

A monument stands in the Plaza to remember the Tlatelolco Massacre where on Oct 2, 1968 some 300 students and bystanders were killed while protesting the Mexican spending on the 68 Olympics. Mexican soldiers with tanks and machine guns opened fire.

Tecpan. Near Plaza. This building on the right was constructed as a Governmental Palace at the end of the Spanish military conquest over the Mexica's after Cortez designated the area as land for indigenous people. Inside is a large mural. La pintura mural prehispánica "Los Dioses Creadores del Calendario". Prehispanic Mural of the Gods, creators of the Calendar.