page_title: History of Mexico City
section_title: Nobility in Mexico City – "City of Palaces"
hierarchical_section_title: History of Mexico City / Colonial period 1521–1821 / Nobility in Mexico City – "City of Palaces"
caption_attribution_description: English: House built by silver magnate Josef Borda at Madero Street 33 in the historic center of Mexico City. "There supposed to be a small museum here run by the bank here but damned if I can find it! The museum closed a few years ago…"
context_page_description: The city now known as Mexico City was founded as Mexico Tenochtitlan in 1324 and a century later became the dominant city-state of the Aztec Triple Alliance, formed in 1430 and composed of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. At its height, Tenochtitlan had enormous temples and palaces, a huge ceremonial center, residences of political, religious, military, and merchants. Its population was estimated at least 100,000 and perhaps as high as 200,000 in 1519 when the Spaniards first saw it.
  During the final stage of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan was besieged and essentially razed. Hernán Cortés understood the strategic and symbolic importance of the Aztec capital and founded the Spanish capital of Mexico City on the site, and in particular rebuilt the Aztec ceremonial and political center as the main square, the Plaza Mayor, usually called the Zócalo. Some of the oldest structures in Mexico City date from the early conquest era. Many colonial-era buildings remain standing and have been re-purposed government buildings and museums.
context_section_description: .
  The concept of nobility transferred to New Spain in a way not seen in other parts of the Americas. A noble title here did not mean one exercised great political power as one's power was limited even if the accumulation of wealth was not. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, most of those who had titles gained them after their families had accumulated wealth over several generations. Many of these nobles made their money outside of the capital at large haciendas or in mining but spent their fortunes in the capital. Those who made their money in the city were usually wholesalers from lower social backgrounds. The merchant-financiers became almost as prominent as the landowners because they were the decisive element of the city's economy. Many of the leading figures were of Spanish origin, although their principal economic interests and family connections were within New Spain. For example, the Andalusian, Pedro Romero de Terreros, who became Count of Regla in 1768, made his money in silver mining at Real del Monte, near Pachuca, from 1742. This blending of wealth of landowners and merchant-financiers led to a blending of traditional and modern practices. Matrimony and personal ties continued to be the principal means of solidifying business interests. Nephews, other relatives and friends formed broad networks of interest over a wide geographical area from the capital cities into the countryside and through the span of economic activities.  The landowners, however, remained in a slightly higher social position because their livelihoods stemmed from their close working arrangement with the colonial state.
  Some landowners' holdings were almost kingdoms. Between the 1730s and the 19th century, the Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo had amassed properties that combined were about two-thirds the size of Portugal, or 19,000,000 acres (77,000 km²). These estates were centered in the modern-day state of Durango, and their specialty was sheep-raising. Meat from their stock supplied Mexico City and wool was sold to various textile workshops. The Aguayos left these estates in the hands of administrators, backed by armed guards to ward off Indian attack, to live off the revenues in Mexico City, where they possessed four palatial residences. Their title had been awarded in 1682, but the land purchases by the family dated from the 1580s.
  The concept of nobility in Mexico was not political but rather a very conservative Spanish social one, based on proving the worthiness of the family, not the individual. For an individual to receive a noble title, he would have to prove his family's bloodline as well as their loyalty to God and king for a number of generations prior. Such a quest was costly but once a title was secured the costs did not stop there.
  Nobles in New Spain had to continually reinforce their devotion to both God and king.  To show their piety, most nobles donated temporal goods to the Roman Catholic Church, by building churches, funding missionary activities and charities. Sometimes nobles would also hold religious office or give one or more children (usually daughters) to a religious vocation but this was relatively rare. Demonstrating loyalty to king meant paying taxes to maintain their titles, sometimes purchasing military rank as well.
  Their last duty was to maintain a certain show of luxury. It was not a case of "keeping up with the Jones'", but rather a requirement of the position.  Families that could not keep up a certain level of luxury were scolded by royal officers as not honoring their title. Such conspicuous consumption manifested itself in dress, jewels, furniture and especially in the building of mansions and palaces.
  The pressure to build the most opulent residence possible reached its height in the last half of the 18th century. Nobles leveled old buildings, using their Aztec stones and Spanish bricks to build more fashionable Baroque and Neo classic style mansions. Many of the most costly were on what was called San Francisco street (now Madero street) and near the Alameda Central.  Near the Alameda were the h
caption: Façade of the Borda House, residence of French mining magnate José de la Borda
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D60", "Image Software": "Ver.1.00", "Image DateTime": "2009:06:26 16:44:32", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "144", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:06:26 16:44:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:06:26 16:44:32", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF SubSecTime": "60", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "60", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "60", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3872", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}