South of the centre
Mexico City spreads itself furthest to the south, where a series
of old villages swallowed up by the urban sprawl harbour some of
the most enticing destinations outside the centre. The colonial
suburbs of Coyoacán and San Ángel , each with
a couple of worthwhile museums, make a tranquil respite from the
city centre's hustle, and a startling contrast to the ultramodern
bravado of the architecture of the university.
There are echoes of ancient Mexico, too, in the archeological
site of Cuicuilco and in the canals of Xochimilco -
what remain of the great valley lakes - and a couple of stations on
the Diego Rivera trail, his remarkable collection of antiquities in
the Museo Anahuacalli , and a very fine collection of
paintings by him and Frida Kahlo in the Museo Dolores Olmeda
Patiño.
Out here too is the residential area of El Pedregal ,
which gets its name from the vast lava flow that spreads south of
San Ángel through the University City and on to the south of
Coyoacán. Craggy and dramatic, it was regarded as a completely
useless stretch of land, the haunt of bandits and brigands until
the early 1950s when architect Luis Barragan began to build
extraordinarily imaginative houses here, using the uneven lava as a
feature. Now it's filled with the most amazing collection of luxury
homes, though even if you drive around you'll unfortunately see
little behind the high walls and security fences.
Copyright Rough Guides Ltd as trustee for its authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved.
The Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd.