page_title: Museum of Mexico City
section_title: Description of the palace
hierarchical_section_title: Museum of Mexico City / Description of the palace
caption_attribution_description: Vestigios de Tenochtitlan
context_page_description: The Museum of Mexico City 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 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.
context_section_description: During the colonial period, this palace was considered one of the most sumptuous in New Spain. The structure covers 2,762 m2,  has a masonry foundation, thick masonry walls, and the facade covered in tezontle. The main entrance and portal are done in cantera, a grayish-white stone, as well as the central balcony. There are also friezes on the facade done in basalt. The Baroque portal rests on four clawed feet and mascarons. It also has cannon-shaped gargoyles, which could be fired, but only with permission of city authorities. The look that survives today is the result of remodeling work done in the late 18th century and was one of the last major Baroque projects in Mexico. One of the building's most distinctive elements is the previously-mentioned Aztec serpent's head, which was probably uncovered during this work. It is thought that the head may have come from the Templo Mayor and was placed as the cornerstone of the original house that was owned by Juan Gutierrez Altamirano.
  Inside, the house has two floors with two courtyards, which was common with houses of Mexican nobility. The family's coat-of-arms adorn the arches of the main courtyard. One distinctive element of the palace is the fountain in the shape of a shell located in the main courtyard. Its deteriorated condition and the fact that there is little space between it and the windows near it suggest that it dates back to before the 18th-century remodeling. The focus of the fountain is a Nereid playing a guitar. It is possible that the marine motif refers to the sea voyages the Counts made to places like the Philippines. 
  The house had its own chapel, but only fragments of the facade remain in the structure today. One room that survives nearly intact is the music room. In the 19th century, music was one of the activities that the upper-class engaged in on a daily basis. European composers such as Franz Schubert, Chopin, Beethoven and Liszt were preferred but music by Mexican composers such as Tomás León, Aniceto Ortega and Melesio Morales could be played as well. Music rooms were considered important during that time period to show the culture of the family.
  The main stairwell is located in the main courtyard opposite the nereid fountain. The dogs that adorn the banister of the main stairwell and the mascarons over the main doorway have an Oriental look to them, which was not common in such residences. Partly because of this, it has been speculated that the wood and the labor used to create parts of the house were of Philippine origin. However, both the work and the wood are native to Mexico, although the wood is not very common.
caption: Quetzalcoatl head on the corner of the building.
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