University sights in Mexico
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A
Universidad de Yucatán
Across Calle 60 from the theater is the main building of the Universidad de Yucatán . The modern university was established in the 19th century by Governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto and General Manuel Cepeda Peraza.
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B
Colegio de Sales
Once a college, founded in the mid-18th century by the San Felipe Neri order, the Colegio de Sales has regained its educational status; it currently houses part of the University of León. Many of the 1810 revolutionaries were educated here. Spaniards were locked up here when the rebels took San Miguel.
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C
University City
The University City, 2km south of San Ángel, is the main campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). With over 280,000 students and 31,000 teachers, it is Latin America’s largest university. Five former Mexican presidents are among its alumni, as is Carlos Slim Helú, ranked the world’s richest man in 2011.
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D
Universidad de Guanajuato
The main building of this university, whose ramparts are visible above much of the city, is one block up the hill from the basilica. The distinctive multistory white-and-blue building with the crenelated pediment dates from the 1950s. The design was (and, some might say, continues to be) controversial as this dominating structure impedes the characteristic, historic cityscape.
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E
Escuela de Bellas Artes
This school is housed in the beautiful former monastery of La Concepción church, which was converted into a fine-arts school in 1938 and still offers courses. It’s worth coming here to view the murals of Pedro Martínez, plus the Siqueiros Room, which features the extraordinary unfinished mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros (it plays with your mind – we won’t spoil the surprise). The rest of the gallery – a series of rooms – holds temporary exhibitions.
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F
Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso
Built in the 16th century as a Jesuit college, this later became a prestigious teacher-training institute. In the 1920s, Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros and others were brought in to do murals. Most of the work on the main patio is by Orozco; look for his portrait of Cortés and La Malinche underneath the staircase. The amphitheater, off the lobby, holds Rivera’s first mural, La Creación, undertaken upon his return from Europe in 1923. Mural tours (in Spanish) are given at noon and 4pm. Nowadays, the San Ildefonso hosts outstanding temporary exhibitions and houses the Salón Cinematográfico Fósforo of the national university.
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G
Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana
Considered the greatest Spanish-language poet of the 17th century, Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz composed many of her sonnets in the former convent of San Jerónimo, today the University of the Cloister of Sor Juana. Its magnificent two-level cloister, dating from 1585, now buzzes with students of gastronomy, literature and philosophy. To the east is the painstakingly restored Iglesia de San Jerónimo containing Sor Juana’s tomb and a 1750 portrait of the poet. The series of tiled niches on its south wall is what remains of the confessionals. The adjacent Museo de la Indumentaria Mexicana displays regional outfits from around Mexico. The university also hosts a dynamic…
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