Ermita station
Metro · 2 12 Line 2 and Line 12
Lines and neighbouring stations
- 2Line 2Portales Ermita General Anaya
- 12Line 12Eje Central Ermita Mexicaltzingo
Transfers to other networks
The story behind the icon
The station image represents the silhouette of a shrine.
Among the small and large religious buildings that Mexico had in the middle of the 17th century were several shrines. These were small chapels, sometimes built outside the atrium of a church. The oldest shrine was that of San Cosme, built in 1526.
The chronicles tell that halfway along the road to Iztapalapa, at a place called Mexicaltzingo, there was another shrine whose surroundings, according to legend, were covered by the waters of the lake, which is why it was abandoned. Because of this, small groups of Indians from the neighbouring towns were organised, such as San Andrés Tetepilco, San Juanico Mextipan and Culhuacán, who took turns and arrived every week in canoes to look after the shrine for eight days; the people knew those men as the hermits.