Francisco Sosa Avenue

Casa de Ordaz

The Avenida Francisco Sosa is the main street in the Barrio de Santa Catarina in the Delegación Coyoacán in Mexico City . Perhaps the most charming street in the Mexican metropolis, which is one of the oldest streets in Latin America , is around 1.5 kilometers long and is lined with beautiful mansions, which are often hidden behind high walls.

Street names

The street's original name was Calle Santa Catarina , which was given based on the church of the same name, which is located on the Plaza de Santa Catarina, which still exists today, on the north side of the street, not far from its geographical center. Because of the special importance of the street with its numerous mansions, it was also called Calle Real or Calle Real de Santa Catarina , before it was given its current name in honor of the writer and historian Francisco Sosa (1848-1925), who himself more than forty Lived in a house on this street for years.

course

The street begins in the east on Calle Centenario , on the opposite side of which rises the double archway of the former monastery of San Juan Bautista , which now leads into the Jardin Centenario . On the other side of the small park is the Plaza de Hidalgo , the central main square of Coyoacán, with the monastery church of San Juan Bautista . The Avenida Francisco Sosa runs in a westerly direction to Avenida Universidad , which is also the western border of Coyoacán. At the intersection with Avenida Universidad is the Iglesia San Antonio de Panzacola , in the immediate vicinity of which the former haciendas El Altillo and Panzacola were located. Not far from here is the city residence of Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado , who was President of Mexico between 1982 and 1988 .

The houses with the even numbers are on the south side of the street (left from the Jardin Centenario) and those with the odd numbers are on the north side (right).

Famous residents and special buildings

The first house on the left side of the street is Casa de Diego de Ordás (1485-1532) at number 4 .

At number 38 is the Casa de Francisco Sosa , built in the 19th century , the long-time residence of the writer whose name the street bears today.

Number 202 houses the Casa de la Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles . The building was built in 1780 and originally served as a paper mill. It is located opposite the Plaza de Santa Catarina with the Iglesia de Santa Catarina, built in the 17th century .

One of the most historic houses on the street is the Casa de Alvarado at number 383 on the corner of Calle de Salvador Novo . The house has had his name since 1713 when it belonged to a merchant named Pedro de Alvarado. It later served as the residence of the important Mexican writer Octavio Paz (1914–1998). Today it houses the Fonoteca Nacional .

In the Casa del Sol under number 412, President Venustiano Carranza (1859–1920) is said to have written parts of his constitutional constitution from 1917 .

At the last southern junction before the end of the street on the corner of Calle de Panzacola is the former residence of the Mexican architect Miguel Ángel de Quevedo (1862-1946), who created the Viveros de Coyoacán park .

literature

Salvador Novo (Coordinador): Ciudad de México - V. Sus villas Coyoacan y Churubusco. (Mexico City: Artes de Mexico, 1968)
Vis à vis: Mexico (Dorling Kindersley Verlag GmbH, Starnberg), p. 102 / ISBN 3928044133
Baedeker's Allianz travel guide: Mexico (Stuttgart 1986), p. 191 / ISBN 3875040791
John Noble: Mexico City (Lonely Planet Publications, 2000), p. 138 / ISBN 1864500875