Palacio De Bellas Artes

Lonely Planet review

The splendid white-marble Palace of Fine Arts, a concert hall and arts center commissioned by President Porfirio Díaz. Construction began in 1905 under Italian architect Adamo Boari, who favored neoclassical and art nouveau styles. The project became more complicated than anticipated as the heavy marble shell sank into the spongy subsoil, and then the Revolution intervened. Work was halted and Boari returned to Italy. Architect Federico Mariscal eventually finished the interior in the 1930s, using the more modern art deco style.

One of Mariscal's achievements was to incorporate pre-Hispanic motifs into the structure. Notice, for example, the serpents' heads set atop the window arches on the lower level. Inside, check out the Maya Chac masks atop the vertical light panels, a feature borrowed from the temples of Uxmal.

Immense murals dominate the upper floors. On the 2nd floor are two early-1950s works by Rufino Tamayo: México de Hoy (Mexico Today) and Nacimiento de la Nacionalidad (Birth of Nationality), a symbolic depiction of the creation of the mestizo (person of mixed indigenous and Spanish ancestry) identity.

At the west end of the 3rd floor is Diego Rivera's famous El Hombre En El Cruce de Caminos (Man at the Crossroads), originally commissioned for New York's Rockefeller Center. The Rockefellers had the original destroyed because of its anticapitalist themes, but Rivera recreated it here in 1934. Capitalism, accompanied by war, is shown on the left; socialism, with health and peace, on the right.

On the north side are David Alfaro Siqueiros' three-part La Nueva Democracía (New Democracy) and Rivera's four-part Carnaval de la Vida Mexicana (Carnival of Mexican Life); to the east is José Clemente Orozco's eye-catching La Katharsis (Catharsis), depicting the conflict between humankind's 'social' and 'natural' aspects.

The 4th-floor Museo Nacional de Arquitectura (admission around $30 , free Sun; h 10:00 - 17:30 Tue-Sun) features changing exhibits on contemporary architecture.

The Bellas Artes theater (only available for viewing at performances) is itself an architectural gem, with a stained-glass curtain depicting the Valle de México. Based on a design by Mexican painter Gerardo Murillo (aka Dr Atl), it was assembled by New York jeweler Tiffany & Co from almost a million pieces of colored glass. A 55m mural over the proscenium arch studded with mythological figures offers audiences plenty to look at during slow-paced performances.

In addition, the palace stages outstanding temporary art exhibitions and the Ballet Folclórico de México . A worthwhile bookstore and an elegant café are on the premises too.