25 Pictures That Prove Mexico City Is A Beautiful Urban Jungle

Mexico City might be one of Latin America’s biggest metropolises, filled with 28 million people driving their cars, walking their dogs and going to work, but it’s also an incredibly visual and enticing city. There are hundreds of sights to love, thousands of buildings to admire, and a million tiny snap shots that make this city a breathtaking landscape.

La Casa de los Azulejos

Building

Sambors The Casa de los Azulejos or palace of the Counts of the Orizaba Valley, as it is also known, is a palace located in the historic center of Mexico City, on the pedestrian street of Madero and Calle Cinco de Mayo.(© Photo: LuisGutierrez / NortePho

One of the Centro Historico’s most famous buildings is covered in beautiful multicolored tiles that glint and glisten in the sun.

Zocalo

The meeting place of the ancient Aztecs, the Spanish colonizers and now the millions of residents that call Mexico City home.

Monumento de la Revolución

Architectural Landmark, Historical Landmark

Once destined to be the home of the Mexican congress, all that remains is a stunning architecture homage to the Mexican revolution.

National Museum of Art

Detailed Colonial architecture is a signature element of Mexico City’s Centro Histórico, and continues to charm tourists 500 years after the conquista.

Xochimilco canals

Mexico City’s last living vestige of its lake bed origins are the labyrinth of canals that exists south of the city, a weekend fiesta and a precious natural gem.

Iglesia de la Sagrada Familia

A superb example of what in Mexico is called eclectic architecture, the Iglesia de la Sagrada Familia is one of the finest Catholic churches in the entire city.

La Romita

A quiet sun-lit plaza is tucked into one of Mexico City’s hippest neighborhoods. La Romita was the original town that Colonia Roma grew up around.

Angel de Independencia

Mexico City’s iconic symbol of freedom and triumph, el Angel, as she is called, towers over the city, protecting its inhabitants.

Palacio de Bellas Artes

Building

Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes is one of its most breathtaking buildings and the treasures that it holds within are even more fantastic than its facade.

Coyoacan Plaza

Church

Coyoacanwas the home of Frida and Diego but is also a little piece of the countryside in the middle of the urbanscape.

Torre Latinoamericana

Building

The Torre Latinoamericana was a vanguard construction during its time and the views from the top of this geometric beauty are some of the best you will find in Mexico City.

Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México

Cathedral, Museum

The facade of the Catedral Metropolitana has an intricate design in a mix of styles, with a central clock in gold

The Metropolitan Cathedral was built atop an ancient Aztec temple which was built atop another temple which was built atop another temple… thousands of years of worship swirl in its foundations.

Mexico City afternoon

Even the constant traffic of this urban monster can be beautiful if you catch it in the right light.

Museo Soumaya

Museum

Mexican mogul Carlos Slim’s ode to the art world, the Soumaya Museum’s design and architecture is even more fabulous than its collection.

Painted hilltop homes

In Mexico City color creeps up the hillsides of its valley on the facades of homes and shops.

Colonia Santa Fe

Mexico City’s playground for the rich, Colonia Santa Fe is full of futuristic architecture and unbelievable design.

Colonia Condesa

Architectural gems abound in Colonia Condesa and Colonia Roma, both built around the turn of the century as the city expanded from its original Centro Histórico boundaries.

Manuel Tolsa Plaza

Romantic, old world, quaint, Mexico City’s plazas beg for a glass of wine and the strains of violin.

Jacarandas in bloom

Every Spring jacaranda trees bomb the city with a purple haze that lingers for weeks and litters purple petal wishes all over the city sidewalks.

Mexico City skyline

The city’s skyline is not overrun with skyscrapers but instead low, cozy and perfectly framed by the distant mountains.

Las Chinampas

The floating gardens of the Chinampas provide much of the produce consumed in Mexico City markets and are a delight to the eye looking for a nature break.

Mexico City Tianguis

Open-air markets light up the city with colors, smells, sights and sounds, wrapping their way around street corners and engulfing entire city blocks.

Centro Histórico

Some of the city’s most stunning architecture can be found in the Centro Histórico. The heart of downtown will capture your own heart.

Basilica de Guadalupe

Cathedral, Library, Museum

The grand cathedral built in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe and her miraculous appearance on a hilltop in Mexico City, turns golden in the afternoon light.

Modern architecture

Mexico City is not all Colonial archways and Aztec ruins, it’s also chock full of modern masterpieces and sweeping glass and metal towers.

About the author

Lydia Carey

Lydia Carey is a freelance writer and translator based out of Mexico City. She has worked as an editor and writer for various publications including Mexico's English–language newspaper The News, Afar, The New Worlder, International Living and The Latin Kitchen among others. Lydia has been blogging and writing in Mexico for over a decade and lives a double life as a local tour guide in her adoptive hometown. You can find her on the street eating tacos or at her blog www.mexicocitystreets.com.