CENTRAL
MEXICO CITY⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
MEXICO CITY⭐⭐⭐
ALAMEDA PARK
Must-see venue in city
Private tours in Mexico City
The Alameda Central is beloved for its corners. Its confluences and its remarkable shade and light ensure that it plays a central role it plays in the lives of city residents.
Officially created in 1592, it’s the oldest public park in the Americas. The area had been a marketplace in the west of Tenochtitlan. Viceroy Luis de Velasco II ordered that a public green space be created for city residents sometime prior to 1592. Although many cities in Latin America also have alamedas, their names come from this one, and from the Spanish word álamo, meaning poplar tree.
The western half of the park had previously been an open plaza used for the execution of heretics at the height of the inquisition. (Only about 30 such executions are believed to have been carried out in all of Mexico.) The park was likely expanded to include this area by about 1791.