Convent of La Merced, Mexico City

Casa Talavera Cultural Center is located in the La Merced neighborhood of the historic center of Mexico City. The building dates back to either the 16th or early 17th century and was the home of the Marquis de Aguayo. In 1931, it was declared a national monument and in 2002, the space was converted to its present use, administered by the Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México.

The Royal Convent of Jesús María and Our Lady of Mercy (Spanish: Convento Real de Jesús María y Nuestra Señora de la Merced) is a church in the historic center of Mexico City, Mexico. Originally a convent for orphaned and undowried girls, Jesús María was the third Conceptionist convent in Mexico City when it was formed in 1580. Its founders were granted financial support from Phillip II of Spain, who planned to make Jesús María a leading convent in New Spain.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Valvanera (also Maronite Cathedral of Our Lady of Valvanera sometimes spelled Balvanera, Spanish: Catedral Maronita de Nuestra Señora de Valvanera) is located southeast of the main plaza, or Zocalo, of Mexico City on the corner of Correo Mayor and Republica de Uruguay in the historic center. The church originally belonged to the Convent of Santo Niño Perdido which was founded in 1573. This would then become a Conceptionist convent in the 17th century, when the church and convent were rebuilt in 1667. It also gained its current name at that time.Due to the Reform Laws in 1861, the nuns were required to vacate the convent portion and the cloister and other buildings associated with the church were demolished. Its main altar was nearly destroyed during the political struggles of the 19th century but the oil of the Black Virgin of Valvanera (or Balvanera) remains.This church was declared a historic monument on August 30, 1932.Nowadays this church is the Cathedral of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of the Martyrs of Lebanon in Mexico. The church is of Baroque style with its main entrance at the side of the church, as was common with convents in Mexico. The bell tower is covered in tile from Puebla. Only this church and the church of La Encarnación have Puebla tile on the bell towers. The church facade is of tezontle divided by five buttresses and topped by an entablature with a frieze with anagrams of the names of Jesus and Mary. Both portals have two levels of decoration on them. Inside, the main altar is Neoclassical and made of stone. The oil of Nuestra Señora de Balvanera is from the 17th century. It and the sculptures here were donated by a Maronite church. The sacristy has paintings by Carlos Clemente Lopez that date from 1750.

La Merced is a barrio or a neighborhood of Mexico City defined by its socioeconomics and history rather than by an official designation. It extends over the southeast of the historic center of Mexico City and is one of the oldest sections of the city, established over 700 years ago by the Mexica as part of the founding of Tenochtitlan. Over its history the area was associated with commerce, first as a major docking area for boats bringing goods to Tenochtitlan/Mexico City on Lake Texcoco, later via canals as the lake was slowly drained. In the latter 19th century, the La Merced market was established in the area replacing the massive La Merced monastery which was almost completely destroyed in the 1860s. This market was established to centralize the marketing of foodstuffs for the city on one area. The first La Merced market was built in 1890 and then replaced by the current building in 1957, one of the largest traditional Mexican markets in Mexico City. In the 1980s, the wholesale function of this market was taken over by the newly constructed Centro de Abasto in the south of the city, with the barrio then going into economic and social decline, with the area having problems with poverty, prostitution and population loss. Although there have been efforts to revitalize the area and the La Merced market remains important.

The Faculty of Arts and Design (formerly known as the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas or ENAP), is a college of art in Xochimilco, Mexico City. The school is part the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and is responsible for teaching painting, sculpture and graphic design, with undergraduate and graduate studies in San Carlos. It is regarded as one of the best art schools in Mexico.

The city now known as Mexico City was founded as Mexico Tenochtitlan in 1325 and a century later became the dominant city-state of the Aztec Triple Alliance, formed in 1430 and composed of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. At its height, Tenochtitlan had enormous temples and palaces, a huge ceremonial center, residences of political, religious, military, and merchants. Its population was estimated at least 100,000 and perhaps as high as 200,000 in 1519 when the Spaniards first saw it. During the final stage of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, Spanish forces besieged and razed Tenochtitlan. Hernán Cortés understood the strategic and symbolic importance of the Aztec capital, founded the Spanish capital of Mexico City on the site, and in particular rebuilt the Aztec ceremonial and political center as the main square, the Plaza Mayor, usually called the Zócalo. Some of the oldest structures in Mexico City date from the early conquest era. Many colonial-era buildings remain standing and have been re-purposed as government buildings and museums. As the seats of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the Archbishopric of New Spain, Mexico City was the center not only of political and religious institutions but also of Mexico's economic activity and the residence of social elites in colonial Mexico (1521–1821). Great merchant houses were located here, and the economic elites of the country also lived in the city, even if the sources of their wealth lay elsewhere. The concentration of mansions and palaces in what is now the Mexico City historic center led it to be nicknamed the "City of Palaces", a sobriquet often attributed, perhaps erroneously, to great savant Alexander von Humboldt. It was also a major educational center: the University of Mexico was founded in 1553 as part of the complex of the Plaza Mayor. The crown-approved attempt to train Nahua men to become Christian priests saw the establishment in 1536 of the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco in one of the two sections of the capital governed by a Nahua city council (cabildo). Many religious institutions for the education of the sons of Spanish elites were also based in the capital. Mexico City had the colony's largest concentration of those of Spanish heritage (both Iberian-born peninsulares and American-born criollos), as well as the largest concentration of mixed race casta population in the colony. Many Indians also lived outside the center of the capital. Ever since independence in 1821, Mexico City remains the country's largest and most important city. Post-independence, U.S. forces captured Mexico City during the Mexican–American War, and the city saw violence during the Reform War and the French Intervention as well as the Mexican Revolution. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city's population stood at about 500,000. The city's history in the 20th and 21st centuries has been marked by explosive population growth and its accompanying problems. The city center deteriorated. The government has had problems keeping up with basic services, but the building of the Mexico City Metro has alleviated some major transportation problems. Smog became a serious problem as the shanty towns evolved, formed by the poor of the country migrating to the city. Since the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, which caused significant damage to the center of the city, efforts have been made to correct some of these problems. In the 2000s, businessman and philanthropist Carlos Slim created a foundation to revitalize the historic center as well as sites near the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Academy of San Carlos (Spanish: Academia de San Carlos) is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1781 as the School of Engraving and moved to the Academia Street location about 10 years later. It emphasized classical European training until the early 20th century, when it shifted to a more modern perspective. At this time, it also integrated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, eventually becoming the Faculty of Arts and Design, which is based in Xochimilco. Currently, only graduate courses of the modern school are given in the original academy building.

La Santísima Church is located 12 La Santísima Street at corner of Emiliano Zapata Street in the historic center of Mexico City. Its full name is Church and Hospital of the Most Holy Trinity (Templo y Antiguo Hospital de la Santisíma Trinidad) . The church was built between 1755 and 1783 as a temple for the adjoining hospital/hospice for priests. The hospital functioned until 1859, when the Reform Laws nationalized much of Church's property in Mexico. The church still retains its original function but the adjoining hospital and office sites have since moved into private hands with only parts of the original structures still intact and preserved.

The Church of Santa Inés is a church located at 26 Moneda Street, just northeast of the Zócalo, Mexico City, Mexico. The building, formerly part of the Convent of Santa Inés, is considered to be a mix of styles between Mexican Baroque and Neoclassical. The church was completely finished in 1770.The church has two portals, one dedicated to Saint Agnes and the other to the Apostle James the Great. The wooden doors of this church are carved with reliefs. Some of these depict the life of Saint Agnes and others show images of the nuns of the convent with their benefactors, Don Diego Caballero and Doña Inés de Velasco. One scene depicts the life of the Apostle James just after he is martyred by decapitation. One other shows Santiago Matamoros, a saint connected with the expulsion of the Moors from Spain.Its dome is decorated with tiles laid in a strip design and made to look like rebozos, a type of indigenous shawl. Inside, the original Baroque altar is long gone, replaced with the current Neoclassic altar. Mexican painters Miguel Cabrera and José de Ibarra are interned in altar here.

The José Luis Cuevas Museum is located just off the Zócalo within the Historic center of Mexico City, in Mexico City, Mexico. The museum and Church of Santa Inés were built as parts of the Convent of Santa Inés (Agnes of Rome) complex. The museum is in the convent's colonial era residential hall.

The Convent of Santa Inés was a convent in Mexico City from 1600 to 1861, later separated into the present day Church of Santa Inés and José Luis Cuevas Museum, located just off the Zócalo within the Historic center of Mexico City.

The Houses of the Mayorazgo de Guerrero are historic buildings at 16 and 18 Moneda Street in Mexico City, located across from the Museum of Cultures in the historic center of the city and near Correo Mayor.The two buildings are nearly twins, both with tezontle stone facades and white stone accents. The houses were founded by the family of Juan Guerrero de Luna in the 16th century, and stayed in the family all through the colonial period as a permanent grant of the Spanish Crown. The current appearance of the buildings is due to rebuilding which was realized in the late 18th century. After Independence, the two houses gradually fell out of family hands, with the main house serving various public functions and the smaller house becoming apartments and shops.