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Casa De Azulejos
A block east toward the Zócalo stands one of the city's gems, the Casa de Azulejos. Dating from 1596, it was built for the Condes (Counts) del Valle de Orizaba. Although the superb tile work that has adorned the outside walls since the 18th century is Spanish and Moorish in style, most of the tiles were actually produced in China and shipped to Mexico on the Manila naos (Spanish galleons used up to the early 19th century).
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Castillo De Chapultepec
A visible reminder of Mexico's bygone aristocracy, the 'castle' that stands atop Chapultepec Hill was begun in 1785 but not completed until after independence, when it became the national military academy. When Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota arrived in 1864, they refurbished it as their residence. The castle became home to Mexico's presidents until 1939, when President Lázaro Cárdenas converted it into the Museo Nacional de Historia (National History Museum).
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Ex-Convento De Churubusco
Scene of a historic military defeat, the 17th-century former Monastery of Churubusco stands within peaceful wooded grounds, 1.5km northeast of Plaza Hidalgo.
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Palacio De Iturbide
West of Bolívar, you'll encounter the baroque facade of the late-18th-century Palacio de Iturbide. Built for colonial nobility, in 1821 it became the residence of General Agustín Iturbide, a hero of the Mexican struggle for independence. To the cheers of a rent-a-crowd, Iturbide was proclaimed Emperor Agustín I here in 1822. (He abdicated less than a year later, after General Santa Anna announced the birth of the republic.)
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Palacio Nacional
The National Palace is home to the offices of the president of Mexico, the Federal Treasury and dramatic murals by Diego Rivera. Above the central entrance hangs the 'Campana de Dolores', the bell rung in the town of Dolores Hidalgo by Padre Miguel Hidalgo in 1810 at the start of the Mexican War of Independence. The first palace on this spot was built by Aztec emperor Moctezuma II in the early 16th century, but Cortés destroyed it in 1521.
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Panteón Civil de Dolores
Chapultepec's second and third sections are divided by a huge cemetery, the Panteón Civil de Dolores. Near its main entrance on Av Constituyentes, the Rotonda de las Personas Ilustres (Rotunda of Illustrious Persons) contains the mortal remains of numerous celebrated Mexicans including the artists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and Dr Atl (Gerardo Murillo).
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Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco
Despite Xochimilco's Unesco World Heritage status, encroaching urbanization and illegal settlement along the canals continue to strain this unique habitat. At least one endemic species of the zone, the axolotl (a fishlike salamander) is in danger of extinction. Thus in 1991 the Ecological Park of Xochimilco was established, about 3km northeast of downtown Xochimilco, both to recover the fragile ecosystem and to provide a retreat for stressed-out urbanites.
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Senado De La República
The upper house of Mexico's federal congress, the Cámara de Senadores, meets in a building on the east side of the Museo Nacional de Arte. It's usually in session from September to December. The Distrito Federal's elected assembly, the Asamblea Legislativa del Distrito Federal (ALDF), uses the old Cámara de Diputados building around the corner at Donceles and Allende.
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