Cultural Building sights in Mexico
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A
Colegio de San Nicolás
Morelos studied at the Colegio de San Nicolás, one block west of the plaza. Don’t worry – it is not another museum, but it has become a foundation for the Universidad Michoacana. Upstairs, the Sala de Melchor Ocampo is a memorial to a Mexican hero, a reformer-governor of Michoacán. Preserved here is Ocampo’s library and a copy of the document he signed donating it to the college, just before he was executed by a conservative firing squad on June 3, 1861.
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B
Biblioteca Gertrudis Bocanegra
One of the coolest libraries of all time, the Biblioteca Gertrudis Bocanegra occupies the cavernous interior of the 16th-century San Agustín church. There are oyster-shell skylights and a massive colorful Juan O’Gorman mural on the rear wall that depicts the history of Michoacán from pre-Hispanic times to the 1910 revolution. It also has high-speed internet for just M$5 per hour and a huge collection of pulpy English paperbacks for sale (M$10 for four).
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C
Unidad Bibliográfica
Houses part of Mexico's National Library; it's about 200m north of the Centro Cultural. A short distance east of the library is the university sculpture garden, with a trail leading through volcanic fields past a dozen or so innovative pieces. The most formidable work, by sculptor Mathias Goeritz, is found just north of the cultural complex: an enormous ring of concrete blocks surround an exposed section of the lava bed upon which the university was built.
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D
Biblioteca Central
As you enter the northern part of the campus from Insurgentes, it's easy to spot the Central Library - 10 floors high, almost windowless and covered on every side with colorful, complicatedly symbolic mosaics by Juan O'Gorman. The south wall, with two prominent zodiac wheels, covers colonial times, while the north wall deals with Aztec culture.
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Centro Cultural Todosanteño
Murals at the Centro Cultural Todosanteño, Todos Santos' former schoolhouse and current cultural center, date from 1933; their nationalist and revolutionary motifs depict missionaries and indigenous people, the Spanish conquistadors, Emiliano Zapata, cooperativism, rural laborers, industry and athletics ('vigor in mind and muscle').
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E
Centro Cultural Vito Alessio Robles
The book collection of the eponymous historian, now numbering 14,000 volumes from the 17th to 19th centuries, anchors the modest Centro Cultural Vito Alessio Robles. Come to see the striking mural of the city's history splashed across the courtyard, and since you're here take a look at the temporary art exhibits to the right.
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F
Biblioteca de Campeche
On the northern (seaward) side stands a replica of the old government center, now housing the modern Biblioteca de Campeche. The impressive portico building on the opposite side housed an earlier version of the city hall; it is now occupied by shops and restaurants.
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G
Biblioteca de la Historia de Las Californias
Across from the Jardín Velasco, La Paz’ former Casa de Gobierno is now the Biblioteca de la Historia de las Californias, a history library.
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