Within hours of arriving in Coyoacan, a beautiful, green, quiet neighborhood in the southwest of Mexico City, I was scouring the internet for long-term rental properties in the area. It was a complete illusion that my family could move there. It seemed as if my family and I had found the ideal base from which to explore the Mexico City I had always loved. An oasis in the city, it’s like an island surrounded by the 24/7 energy of the country’s vibrant capital.
The charm of this district has been evident for centuries. Long before it was swallowed up by the sprawl of Mexico City, before it actually became a village. The conquistador Hernán Cortés is said to have lived here around 1520 (after the Aztec capital was destroyed), but now known as the Casa de Cortés, he built an 18th-century building It is clear that he did not live. Coyoacan was he incorporated into the capital in the 19th century and in 1928, designated as an autonomous region.
In the early to mid-20th century, Coyoacan was Mexico City’s Greenwich Village, Montparnasse. Artists from all over the world have visited and stayed in their Mexican counterparts. The region’s rich history, and much of its special magic, remains and can still be seen in the homes where these luminaries lived and worked. It might be a superstition to feel close to the dead where they used to live, but if so, it’s a superstition shared by so many people.
The house we found on Airbnb was pure coincidence. Mexican Muralist Movement, a group that includes Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros and others. The walls are adorned with paintings and prints by Orozco, who died in 1949, and the bookshelves are filled with reproductions of his art.
Several of Coyoacan’s famous residents’ homes are now museums. House museums draw us out of curiosity about the living conditions and possessions of figures we either admire or loathe. I’ve seen Dostoevsky’s playing cards, read the first draft of Roosevelt’s Infamy Day speech, and looked down from Virginia Woolf’s writing hut into the field toward the river where she drowned. If we believe we live in these buildings, we long for quiet and solitude where we can hear what they have to say.
The bright blue color is by far the most famous of the neighborhood house museums. Casa Azul, where Frida Kahlo spent much of her life and died. From the 1940s to her 50s, she and Rivera hosted Mexican artists, European surrealists, film stars, wealthy art collectors, expats, and political asylum seekers.
When I first visited the house, long before the Salma Hayek movie was released, before the world was fascinated by what Mexicans call Fridamania, the indelible was the only visitor.Moving from room to room.
It is now a very popular tourist destination, almost a pilgrimage site, with advance ticket sales and (often) long waiting times to enter. You can pause in front of and visit the somewhat shrine-like bedroom, but it’s not a recreation of her home, it’s more like a gift shop and a tribute display with quotes from Patti Smith stenciled on the walls. But it’s hard to feel a sense of personal fellowship with her. Kahlo and Rivera enjoyed the beautiful courtyard.
But Kahlo had a great collection, so braving the crowd is certainly worth it. Most notable are the retablos, or sacred photographs, many of which represent miraculous deliverances. On top of that, I can’t help but think that Frida and Diego would have been pleased with the number of attendees, the awe, and the attention. Both were ambitious and deeply concerned about their careers and reputations.
If you want to know more about Rivera’s ego, Anawakari Museum30 minutes by taxi From Casa Azul.It’s an extraordinary monument that Rivera built for himself with the help of an architect Juan O’GormanThe building that once served as Rivera’s studio now houses his collection of pre-Columbian art, displayed in dramatically lit showcases.
British author Rebecca West was appalled by the structure and wrote furiously (and hilariously) about it. “Mexican Survivor” Published in 2003: “Blocks of gray stone were piled up by architects who had an Aztec pyramid in mind,” she wrote. From the portal came out a group of people stiffened in the face with the feeling that the visit was not over yet, but only slightly stiffened because it was almost over.” When I was there. , a thriller was being filmed at the museum, and being chased from room to room by a film crew who needed one gallery added to the oppression.
Casa Azul isn’t the only house museum you can visit to see what Coyoacan was like in another era. It is the community that they have formed, who has lived here and what they have done. When Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky arrived in Mexico in 1936, he stayed rent-free at Casa Azul. After his defection, he moved to a house near Churubusco Boulevard, where he was assassinated by agents of Stalin’s secret police. museum.
Trotsky’s House is a quieter landscape than Casa Azul. There is also a pleasant courtyard here, and the relative peace and physical space makes it easy to imagine the brief period in which wanted revolutionaries in Russia found sanctuary there. Perhaps its haunting aura stems from the fact that you can see the desk where Trotsky was probably writing Stalin’s biography when he was killed. famous ice Ax, by Soviet agents.
The rooms, grouped around a courtyard with the quarters of the guards assigned to protect Trotsky, and the hut where he kept his beloved rabbits and chickens, are comfortable yet frugal, humility and simplicity. is touching Adjacent to the house is a photographic exhibit of Trotsky and his associates and a chronology of Russian and Mexican history in the early 20th century. It is instructive to know that when Trotsky lived there, his house adjoined the neighborhood and the fields and farmlands on the edge of the city. Right outside his door is now a busy highway that takes you to the historic centre.
On a weekday morning, just my family and I visited our favorite Coyoacan home museum. Casa del Emilio Fernandez, were known as “Indios”. In a lovely and particularly peaceful corner of Coyoacan, the former home of a Mexican movie star, open only on weekends, seems relatively unaffected by tourism and the passing of time.
Built in volcanic stone, the ‘House Fortress’ occupies most of the square city block and was designed and built in 1947. fernandezA director and actor who made over 120 films until his death in 1986, his impressive physique is said to have inspired an Oscar statuette. Born to an indigenous mother (hence his nickname), he claimed to have fought in the Mexican Revolution and was exiled to the United States, where he lived in Los Angeles, paving his way into the film industry before returning to Mexico.
Built around a huge courtyard that was once used to corral the horses that Fernandez used in the film, the house has vast, cavernous public rooms. Among the guests at his lavish party were Kahlo, Rivera and Marilyn Monroe. There are pictures of Indio’s three wives hanging all over, and a picture of Olivia de Havilland in his former bedroom. According to the tour guide of the house, the Hollywood actress turned down Fernandez’s invitation because it was “too ugly”. Fernandez vowed to one day put de Havilland “under his feet” and when the government agreed to allow a street by his house to be named, he called it Dulce Olivia, or Sweet Olivia. named and fulfilled a promise or threat.
These historic monuments are not the only reason to visit Coyoacan. Coyoacan has excellent cuisine, extensive botanical gardens, a pleasant zocalo, and food and craft markets. Here, as in much of Mexico, past and present coexist. a quiet sunday afternoon Jardin Centenario, the band was playing for middle-aged and older couples who danced a sort of dignified salsa foxtrot. Their families sat around drinking coffee, eating elote and roasting corn. Kids were sucking on spicy lollipops. Traffic is still light and it’s not hard to imagine luxury sedans driving along the edge of the central square to deliver guests to one of Emilio Fernandez’s long and surprising parties.
if you go
The Coyoacan House Museum provides a window into the neighborhood’s rich artistic and cultural history. Visiting them is affordable and, with the exception of Casa Azul, usually not overwhelmed with tourists. Here’s how to find them.
Londres 247, Colonia del Carmen
Hours of Operation: Tuesday, Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm. Wednesday 11am-6pm Closed Mondays.
Admission: Weekdays: 230 pesos (approximately $11.25). Weekends: 270 pesos. Tickets can be booked online, so I recommend booking online.
Avenida Río Churubusco 410, Colonia del Carmen
Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
Entrance fee: 40 pesos
Museo 150, Colonia San Pablo Tepetrapa
Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 5:30pm
Entrance fee: 80 pesos.Free with Casa Azul ticket
Ignacio Zaragoza 51, Colonia Santa Catarina
Opening hours: Saturday and Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Entrance fee: 100 pesos
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