Tlatelolco (archaeological site)

Tlatelolco (Classical Nahuatl: Mēxihco-Tlatelōlco [tɬateˈloːɬko], modern Nahuatl pronunciation ) (also called Mexico Tlatelolco) was a pre-Columbian altepetl, or city-state, in the Valley of Mexico. Its inhabitants, known as the Tlatelolca, were part of the Mexica, a Nahuatl-speaking people who arrived in what is now central Mexico in the 13th century. The Mexica settled on an island in Lake Texcoco and founded the altepetl of Mexico-Tenochtitlan on the southern portion of the island. In 1337, a group of dissident Mexica broke away from the Tenochca leadership in Tenochtitlan and founded Mexico-Tlatelolco on the northern portion of the island. Tenochtitlan was closely tied with its sister city, which was largely dependent on the market of Tlatelolco, the most important site of commerce in the area.

The Plaza de las Tres Culturas ("Square of the Three Cultures") is the main square within the Tlatelolco neighborhood of Mexico City. The name "Three Cultures" is in recognition of the three periods of Mexican history reflected by buildings in the plaza: pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and the independent nation. The plaza, designed by Mexican architect and urbanist Mario Pani, was completed in 1966. The square contains the archaeological site of the city-state of Tlatelolco and is flanked by the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas called the College of Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco (built in 1536 by friar Juan de Torquemada) and by a massive housing complex built in 1964. The former headquarters of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (foreign ministry) also stands on the southern edge of the square. This headquarters now houses a memorial museum called "Memorial 68", opened by UNAM in October 2007, to remember the 1968 Mexican student demonstrations and the Tlatelolco Massacre victims and survivors. On the south side of the Plaza stands a large stone memorial erected on October 2, 1993, the 25th anniversary of the massacre, in memory of the hundreds killed.

The Colegio de Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco, Mexico City, is the first and oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas and the first major school of interpreters and translators in the New World. It was established by the Franciscans on January 6, 1536 with the intention, as is generally accepted, of preparing Native American boys for eventual ordination to the Catholic priesthood. Students trained in the Colegio were important contributors to the work of Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún in the creation of his monumental twelve-volume General History of the Things of New Spain, often referred to as the Florentine Codex. The failure of the Colegio had long-lasting consequences, with scholar Robert Ricard saying that "[h]ad the College of Tlatelolco given the country even one [native] bishop, the history of the Mexican Church might have been profoundly changed."

On October 2, 1968 in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City, the Mexican Armed Forces opened fire on a group of unarmed civilians in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas who were protesting the upcoming 1968 Summer Olympics. The Mexican government and media claimed that the Armed Forces had been provoked by protesters shooting at them, but government documents made public since 2000 suggest that snipers had been employed by the government. The number of deaths resulting from the event is disputed. According to U.S. national security archives, American analyst Kate Doyle documented the deaths of 44 people; however, estimates of the actual death toll range from 300 to 400, with eyewitnesses reporting hundreds dead. Additionally the head of the Federal Directorate of Security reported that 1,345 people were arrested.The massacre followed a series of large demonstrations called the Mexican Movement of 1968 and is considered part of the Mexican Dirty War, when the U.S.-backed Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) government violently repressed political and social opposition. The event occurred ten days before the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which were carried out normally.

Tlatelolco (Classical Nahuatl: Tlatelōlco [tɬateˈloːɬko], or Tlatilōlco, modern Nahuatl pronunciation from tlalli - land; telolli - hill; co - place; lit. 'In the little hill of land') is an area now within the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, centered on the Plaza de las Tres Culturas (Square of Three Cultures). Its archeological history extends to remains from the 15th and 16th centuries, as well as more recent colonial structures. The square is bounded by an excavated Aztec archaeological site, the 16th century college church designed by Fray Juan de Torquemada and dedicated to St James the Great (known as Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco), the remains of a former Franciscan convent to which was formerly attached the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco, and an office complex that was used by the Ministry of Foreign Relations and is now the property of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

The Conjunto Urbano Nonoalco Tlatelolco (officially Conjunto Urbano Presidente López Mateos) is the largest apartment complex in Mexico, and second largest in North America, after New York's Co-op City. The complex is located in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City. It was built in the 1960s by architect Mario Pani. Originally, the complex had 102 apartment buildings, with its own schools, hospitals, stores and more, to make it a city within a city. It was also created to be a kind of human habitat and includes artwork such as murals and green spaces such as the Santiago Tlatelolco Garden. Today, the complex is smaller than it was and in a state of deterioration, mostly due to the effects and after effects of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. This quake caused the immediate collapse of the Nuevo León building with others being demolished in the months afterwards. Further earthquakes in 1993 caused the condemnation of more buildings. In addition to the lost buildings, many residents eventually undersold or abandoned their apartments, as repairs were either never made or made poorly. Today the complex consists of 90 apartment buildings, divided into three sections bordered by Avenida de los Insurgentes, Eje 1 Poniente Guerrero, Eje Central and Paseo de la Reforma. Originally, the complex was designed to house people from different economic social strata, but today almost all residents are of middle to middle-low income. Crime is a major problem, as is the structural integrity of some of the remaining buildings.

Tlatelolco is a metro station along Line 3 of the Mexico City Metro. It is located in the Tlatelolco neighbourhood of the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, to the north of the downtown area. It serves the Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco mega apartment complex, famous for its Plaza de las Tres Culturas square (with buildings from the pre-Hispanic, colonial, and modern eras) and infamous for the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre of demonstrating students. The station logo depicts the tallest building in the nearby Nonoalco-Tlatelolco residential estate, the triangular Torre Insignia, which was formerly a Banobras building. The 127 metres (417 ft) tower houses a 47-bell carillon – a gift to the Mexican people from the citizens of Belgium. Metro Tlatelolco is directly connected with the main square of the vast, 1960s residential estate. The station opened on 20 November 1970 with service southward towards Hospital General. Northward service towards Indios Verdes started nearly 8 years later on 25 August 1978.

Garibaldi / Lagunilla (formerly Garibaldi) is a station on the Mexico City Metro. It is a transfer station, serving both Lines 8 and B. It is the northern terminus of Line 8.

Colonia Ex Hipódromo del Peralvillo is a colonia or neighborhood of the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, located north of the historic center. It is part of an area of the city that is noted for crime and lower income residents. One area of the colonia around Calzado de la Ronda is noted for stored selling used auto parts, frequently from stolen cars. The colonia is named after an old horse race track (hipodromo in Spanish) that was built here in the early 20th century, but the area was later parceled and sold to create housing for lower class workers.

The Battle of Colhuacatonco was fought on 30 June 1521 during the late stages of the Siege of Tenochtitlan between Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces and the Mexica Empire (also typically referred as Aztec Empire). It is regarded as the most important victory achieved by the Mexica during the siege.The battle was fought as a result of the Spanish soldiers growing dissatisfied with the lack of progress done during the siege thus far, as the Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces had failed to take any important amount of territory since the beginning of June. Captain Hernán Cortés of the Spanish decided to launch a massive assault onto the city to take the market of Tlatelolco. The Spanish faced a much stronger resistance than expected and were eventually forced to retreat, suffering their worst losses since La Noche Triste and the Battle of Otumba a year earlier. Though much of the fighting occurred elsewhere in Tlatelolco, northern Tenochtitlan and Tacuba, the battle became known as such because most of the fighting occurred in this neighborhood; the Spaniards suffered their worst losses in this battle in this site.The battle became famous among modern historians as a result of the Spanish defeat, which was perceived as humiliating and retroactively seen as a demonstration of indigenous resistance against colonialism even in the most dire circumstances, as by this point the city was already facing widespread starvation and disease and yet still achieved victory, though the battle did not stop the city from falling to the Spanish Empire in August of the same year. The battle also became famous because Cortés narrowly escaped death during the fighting, as he was captured by multiple Mexica warriors, who typically didn't spare their prisoners, before he was rescued.

La Lagunilla Market is a traditional public market in Mexico City, located about ten blocks north of the city's main plaza, in a neighborhood called La Lagunilla. The market is one of the largest in the city and consists of three sections: one for clothing, one for furniture and one for foodstuffs, mostly selling to lower income customers. The market is surrounded by small stores and street vendors, many specializing in furniture and dresses and other needs for formal occasions. On Sundays, the number of street vendors grows significantly, a weekly “tianguis” market called a baratillo which traditionally sells used items. One section of this baratillo has developed into a market for antiques, which has attracted higher income customers and even famous ones such as Carlos Monsiváis.

Colonia Guerrero is a colonia of Mexico City located just north-northwest of the historic center. Its borders are formed by Ricardo Flores Magón to the north, Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas and Paseo de la Reforma to the east, Eje1 Poniente Guerrero to the west and Avenida Hidalgo to the south. The colonia has a long history, beginning as an indigenous neighborhood in the colonial period called Cuepopan. The origins of the modern colonia begin in the first half of the 19th century, but most of its development occurred as a residential area in the late 19th and early 20th. Over the 20th century, several rail lines and major arteries were built through here, changing its character Cuauhtémoc borough. It is home to two early colonial era churches, the Franz Mayer Museum and one Neo-Gothic church from the Porfirian era.