Tlatelolco station
Metro · 3 Line 3
Neighbouring stations
Transfers to other networks
The story behind the icon
The station icon is the façade of the main building of the housing complex of the same name.
The station is so named because it stands on the lands of what was formerly the Villa de Tlatelolco.
This area spans three distinct periods:
Pre-Cortesian period. Part of the city of México-Tenochtitlan was founded on that spot.
Viceregal period. In 1525 the convent of Santiago Tlatelolco was raised in those places. The Franciscan fathers settled there and, a short time later, built a small church. In 1537, with Juan de Zumárraga, first bishop of Mexico, serving in New Spain, the college of Santa Cruz Tlatelolco was founded for the education of noble indigenous youths, sponsored by the emperor Charles V. In 1513, by royal decree of Philip II of Spain issued on 1 May, a beautiful church was built beside the college which stands to this day.
Modern period: today all those places, and those around them, were used to build a gigantic housing complex made up of three sections. It has every service and building, such as the Torre Tlatelolco, which from 1966 to 2006 housed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From October 2007 to the present it is the Tlatelolco Cultural Centre of the UNAM. It is a great city within the capital, laid out over an area of 945,000 square metres, of which 265,000 were given over to buildings in general, 482,000 to parks, gardens and lawns, and 198,000 to roads.