PLAZA DE LAS TRES CULTURAS

The Plaza de los Tres Culturas is located about 13 blocks north of the Zócalo. It takes its name from the architectural chronology of the place: the pre-Columbian era, the colonial era and the era of the independent nation from the 20th century. Near the Plaza de los Tres Culturas are the ruins of the ancient pre-Hispanic city of Tlatelolco (you can visit the pyramid). This city, built on the north shore of Lake Texcoco, was probably founded by Mexicas who decided to separate from the group that settled on the island in the middle of the lake to found Tenochtitlán. Initially an ally of Tenochtitlán in the war against Azcapotzalco, Tlatelolco was eventually conquered by the Aztecs, who used the city mainly as a reservoir of human hearts to feed Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. After the conquest, the Spaniards razed the buildings and in 1535 erected a church, Santiago de Tlatelolco, which still exists today. Later, in 1964, the government ordered the construction of concrete social housing around the square, strongly inspired by Le Corbusier. So much for history.

You should also know that the Plaza de los Tres Culturas was the scene of another historical event that the country does not try to honor: a real massacre took place there on October 2, 1968, during student demonstrations. While Mexico City was hosting the Olympic Games, students were peacefully demonstrating in the center of the square surrounded by tall buildings, and a gunfight broke out. Gunmen, recognizable by a small white scarf wrapped around their right hand, positioned themselves on rooftops and apartment windows and opened fire on the crowd. Today, the number of people killed in the Tlatelolco massacre is still unknown. The bodies were hidden and the army took away the photographic film from the journalists.

The 1984 earthquake caused one of the buildings to fall, resulting in between 500 and 1,000 deaths among its occupants. The Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco, in front of the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, will allow you to learn more about the pre-Hispanic city of Tlatelolco, as well as about the tragic events of 1968, since it houses a museum of archaeology and a multimedia memorial to the victims of 1968.