Santa María la Ribera Walk

This walk takes you through one of Mexico City's very first planned suburbs, where fading Porfirian-era mansions and a spectacular Moorish gazebo meet a quiet creative and culinary resurgence.

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1. Casa de los Mascarones

The Casa de los Mascarones stands out because of the ornate stone faces that cover its facade, carved in the Churrigueresque style. Count Jose Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y de la Vega commissioned the residence in the late seventeenth…

2. Museo Universitario del Chopo

The two soaring steel towers at the Museo Universitario del Chopo resemble a giant iron bird trapped in the middle of Mexico City. Originally manufactured in Germany in nineteen hundred two, the structure was shipped across the Atlantic in…

3. Parroquia Josefina de la Sagrada Familia

The Parroquia Josefina de la Sagrada Familia holds a distinct profile with its sharp, neo-gothic spires rising abruptly above the surrounding residential streets of Santa María la Ribera. The building serves the Congregation of the Oblates…

4. María Ciento38

The pale yellow walls of María Ciento38 are broken by a large, arched wooden door that opens into a quiet courtyard filled with overgrown greenery. Before this was a restaurant serving Sicilian food, the property housed a family for…

5. Salón París

The Salón París features a bright, mustard-yellow facade capped by a heavy, ornate stone cornice that cuts a sharp silhouette against the Santa María la Ribera skyline. Built in the early twentieth century, this structure served as a hub…

6. Museo del Instituto de Geología de la UNAM

The Museo del Instituto de Geología is a pale-yellow French-style mansion with an ornate stone facade tucked onto a quiet street in Santa María la Ribera. When it opened in nineteen zero six, it served as a research hub for scientists…

7. Kiosko Morisco

The Kiosko Morisco is a freestanding pavilion built entirely of cast iron, its design defined by intricate arches covered in complex, Islamic-inspired geometric patterns and vibrant stained glass. Created for the eighteen eighty-four New…

8. Biblioteca Vasconcelos

The Biblioteca Vasconcelos features shelves that appear to float in midair, suspended by steel rods from the ceiling across a cavernous, transparent atrium. Designed by Alberto Kalach and finished in two thousand six, this massive…

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