The Magic of the Cities.

Zen promotes the rediscovery of the obvious, which is so often lost in its familiarity and simplicity. It sees the miraculous in the common and magic in our everyday surroundings. When we are not rushed, and our minds are unclouded by conceptualizations, a veil will sometimes drop, introducing the viewer to a world unseen since childhood. ~ John Greer

Showing posts with label Castillo de Chapultepec. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Castillo de Chapultepec. Show all posts

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Chapultepec Castle




Chapultepec Castle is located on top of Chapultepec Hill. The name Chapultepec stems from the Náhuatl word chapoltepēc which means "at the grasshopper's hill". It is located in the middle of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City at a height of 2,325 meters (7,628 ft) above sea level. The site of the hill was a sacred place for Aztecs, and the buildings atop it have served several purposes during its history, including that of Military Academy, Imperial residence, Presidential home, observatory, and presently, the Museo Nacional de Historia.
Is the only Royal Castle in North America that was used to house sovereigns: the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I, and his consort Empress Carlota, during the Second Mexican Empire. [Wiki] 


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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Mexico City


(View from Chapultepec Castle)
As an "alpha" global city Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in North America. It is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft). The city consists of sixteen boroughs.

The 2009 estimated population for the city proper was around 8.84 million people, and has a land area of 1,485 square kilometres (573 sq mi). According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the Mexico City metropolitan area population is 21.2 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the fifth largest agglomeration in the world.
Mexico City has a gross domestic product (GDP) of $390 billion US$ in 2008, making Mexico City the eighth richest city in the world. The city was responsible for generating 21% of Mexico's Gross Domestic Product and the metropolitan area accounted for 34% of total national GDP.

The city was originally built on an island of Lake Texcoco by the Aztecs in 1325 as Tenochtitlan, which was almost completely destroyed in the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlan, and subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in accordance with the Spanish urban standards. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, and as of 1585 it was officially known as La Ciudad de México (Mexico City). Mexico City served as the political, administrative and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the Federal District was created in 1824.  [Wiki]

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Friday, November 6, 2009

Chapultepec Castle


Fountain with a sculpture of the symbol of Chapultepec, "The Grasshopper"
In the background, statues dedicated to the boy soldiers, along a walkway at the top of Chapultepec Castle.

Chapultepec (Chapoltepēc, "at the grasshopper's hill" in the Nahuatl language; cf. Mexican Spanish Chapulín [Grasshopper]) is a large hill on the outskirts of central Mexico City. It has been a special place for Mexicans throughout Mexican history, and it was on this hill that the Aztecs made a temporary home after arriving from northern Mexico in the 1200s.
The Niños Héroes (in English: Boy Heroes), also known as the Heroic Cadets or Boy Soldiers, were six teenage military cadets who died defending Mexico at Mexico City's Chapultepec Castle (then serving as the Mexican army's military academy) from invading U.S. forces in the 13 September 1847 Battle of Chapultepec.
Their commanders, General Nicolás Bravo and General José Mariano Monterde, had ordered them to fall back from Chapultepec but the cadets did not; instead, they resisted the invaders until they were killed, with accounts maintaining that the last survivor leapt from Chapultepec Castle wrapped in the Mexican flag to prevent it from being taken by the enemy. [Wiki]

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New York City and Washington series continue in Sketches of Cities.

Gracias por su visita. / Thanks for visiting, please be sure that I read each and every one of your kind comments and I appreciate them all. Stay tune.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

View from Castle of Chapultepec


The Castillo de Chapultepec (translated as "Castle of Chapultepec") is a castle built on top of Chapultepec Hill (Chapultepec comes from Náhuatl chapoltepēc and means "at the grasshopper hill"), located in the middle of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City at a height of 2,325 meters above sea level. The building has been used for several purposes during its history, including Military Academy, Imperial and Presidential residence, observatory and museum. It currently houses the Mexican National Museum of History. It is the only castle in North America that was occupied by French sovereigns. [ Wiki ]

Gracias por su visita / Thanks for visiting.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Castillo de Chapultepec / Chapultepec Castle









The Castillo de Chapultepec (translated as "Castle of Chapultepec") is a castle built on top of Chapultepec Hill (Chapultepec comes from Náhuatl chapoltepēc and means "at the grasshopper hill"), located in the middle of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City at a height of 2,325 meters above sea level. The building has been used for several purposes during its history, including Military Academy, Imperial and Presidential residence, observatory and museum. It currently houses the Mexican National Museum of History. It is the only castle in North America that was occupied by European sovereigns. [Wiki.]


Gracias por su visita / Thanks for visiting!

Castillo de Chapultepec.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Jogging for your Health



Paseo de la Reforma, main street. Looking to the west, in the background, Diana Fountain & Chapultepec Castle.