Zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución)

Welcome to the Plaza de la Constitución, the Zócalo, one of the largest squares in the world and the place where Mexico celebrates, protests and gathers. Turn around slowly: in a single sweep you take in the Cathedral, the National Palace and, a few steps away, the ruins of the Templo Mayor.

1A name that comes from a pedestal

Its official name recalls the Cádiz Constitution of 1812, which was sworn in this square. But everyone calls it the Zócalo because of a monument that was never finished: in 1843 President Antonio López de Santa Anna ordered a monument to independence for the centre, and only its base, the zócalo, was ever put in place. The word stuck to the square, and today in many Mexican towns "the zócalo" simply means the main square.

2The heart of two cities

The centre of Tenochtitlan lay here, and over it the Spanish laid out the main square of their new capital. In colonial times it was a market, with the famous Parián, and the stage for processions, festivities and executions. From 1803, and through the first years of independence, it was presided over by Manuel Tolsá's equestrian statue of Charles IV, known as El Caballito, which now stands in front of the Palacio de Minería.

Every day a military detachment raises the giant flag in the centre of the square at dawn and lowers it with ceremony in the late afternoon.

The square changes with the calendar: an ice rink in winter, Day of the Dead offerings, huge concerts and, every 15 September, the Cry of Independence.

3What to look for

• The giant flag in the middle of the esplanade.
• The façade of the National Palace, filling the whole east side.
• The City Government buildings on the south side, with their arcades.