Historic centre o Mexico Ceety

**The historic centre o [[Mexico Ceety]]** is kent as the "Centro" or "Centro Histórico" an aw. This neeborheid is focused on the Zócalo or main plaza in Mexico Ceety an extends in aw directions for a nummer o blocks wi its farthest extent bein wast tae the Alameda Central The Zocalo is the mucklest plaza in Laitin Americae an the seicont mucklest in the warld efter Moscow's Red Square. It can hauld up tae naurhaund 100,000 fowk.

This section o the ceety haes juist ower nine square km an occupees 668 blocks. It contains 9,000 biggins, 1,550 o it haes been declared o historical importance. Maist o thir historic biggins wur constructit atween the 16t an 20t centuries. It is dividit inta twa zones for preservation purposes. Zone A encompasses the pre-Hispanic ceety an its expansion frae the Viceroy period till Unthirldom. Zone B covers the auries aw ither constructions tae the end o the 19t century that are considered indispensable tae the preservation o the aurie's airchitectural an cultural heritage.

This is whaur the Spaniards began tae bigg whit is nou modren Mexico Ceety in the 16t century on the ruins o the conquered Tenochtitlan, caipital o the Aztec Empire. As the centre o the auncient Aztec Empire an the seat o pouer for the Spainyie colony o New Spain, the Centro Historico contains maist o the ceety's historic steids frae baith eras as well as a lairge nummer o museums. This haes made it a Warld Heritage Steid.

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## History

Whit is nou the historic dountoun o Mexico Ceety roughly correlates wi the auncient Aztec ceety o Tenochtitlan, that wis foondit aroond 1325. Durin the prehispanic era, the ceety developit in a planned fashion, wi streets an canals aligned wi the cardinal directions, leadin tae orderly square blocks. The eilan that the ceety wis foondit on wis dividit intae fower calpullis or neebourheids that wur dividit bi the main north-sooth roads leadin tae Tepeyac an Iztapalapa respectively an the wast-east road that lead tae Tacuba an tae a dike intae the lake, respectively. The calpullis wur namit Cuepopan, Atzacualco, Moyotla an Zoquipan, that haed subdiveesions an a "tecpan" or destrict cooncil each. The intersection o thir roads wis the centre o the ceety an o the Aztec warld. Here wur the Templo Mayor, the pailaces o the tlatoani or emperors, pailaces o nobles sic as the "Hoose o the Demons" an the "Hoose o the Flouers".  Ither things locatit here wur the twa maist renouned Aztec schuils: the Telpuchcalli for secular studies an the Calmecac for priestly trainin. Whan the Spaniards arrivit, the ceety gart bigg aqueducts bi Montezuma Ilhuicamina an Ahuizotl as well as a muckle dike constructit tae the east o the ceety.

Efter the Spainyie conquest, this design remained mainly intact, maistly due tae the efforts o Alonso Garcia Bravo, who supervised hintle o the rebiggin o the ceety. This reconstruction conservit mony o the main thoroufares sic as Tenayuca, renamit Vallejo; Tlacopan, renamit México Tacuba, an Tepeyac, nou cried the Calzada de los Misterios. Thay kept major diveesions o the ceety addin Christian prefixes tae the names sic as San Juan Moyotla, Santa María Tlaquechiuacan, San Sebastián Atzacualco an San Pedro Teopan an aw. In fact, maist o the centro historicos wis biggit wi the rubble o the destroyed Aztec ceety.

A nummer o fowk durin this time, aw Spaniards, accumulatit vast walth maistly throu minin an commerce in the 17t an 18t centuries. This walth is reflectit in the various mansions scattered in the centro sic as the Palace o Iturbide an Casa de Azulejos (Hoose o Tiles). This hoose wis biggit in the 16t century in Arab style but its namesake tiles wur addit in 1747 whan the Coont o the Valley o Orizaba ordered the Talavera tiles frae Puebla.

In the early pairt o the 20t century, as a result o the Laitin American postur o then-Meenister o Public Eddication José Vasconcelos, mony o the streets tae the north an wast o the Zocalo wur renamit efter Laitin American kintras.

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