---
node: spot_mexico_city_zocalo
type: spot
slug: zocalo
destination: dest_mexico_city
title: "Zócalo"
lead: "The Zócalo is the main square of Mexico City, laid out on the ceremonial centre of Tenochtitlan and one of the largest city squares in the world. The cathedral, the national palace and the excavated Aztec Templo Mayor stand on three of its sides."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_mexico_city_zocalo.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DanzantezocaloDF.JPG"
image_author: "AlejandroLinaresGarcia"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

## Overview

Cortés ordered the Aztec ceremonial precinct demolished and the Spanish city built on top of it with the same stones, which is why the cathedral leans: it is sinking into the lake bed the Aztecs had built on. The Templo Mayor was found by accident in 1978 when electricity workers struck a stone disc of the goddess Coyolxauhqui, and its excavation removed a block of colonial buildings. The square is a working political space, and protest camps, concerts and official ceremonies all take it over in turn.

## Highlights

Go up to a rooftop terrace on the south side for the whole square in one view; several are cafés and cost the price of a coffee. The Templo Mayor museum holds the Coyolxauhqui disc and is the best explanation of what was here before. The flag in the centre is lowered at six each evening by a military detachment, which draws a crowd.