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Paseo de la Reforma is the most important and beautiful avenue in
the city. It’s also one of the most famous in the world, due to the
important buildings and monuments that stand along it, like the
Mexican Stock-Market or the world-renowned Angel of Independence.
Paseo de la Reforma was planed by the Emperor Maximiliano to shorten
the distance between Chapultepec Castle and the National Palace,
this is the reason why this important avenue was traced inspired in
the models of some European cities like Paris’ Champs-Elysées. Later
governments improved the avenue by planting trees, growing gardens
and installing urban furniture like benches and pedestals in which
sculptures of the main heroes of each state of the country would
stand, for which 16 states sent the effigies of its two most
outstanding patriots.
But
it wasn’t until Porfirio Díaz’s time in office that the avenue
dressed up to commemorate the 100th anniversary of
México’s Independence. This is the reason why, apart from the
diverse constructions that were developed in the city like the
Palace of Fine Arts or the Mail Palace, various monuments were
erected in Paseo de la Reforma which, with time, would become the
city’s symbols, just like the Angel of Independence. Simultaneously,
the wealthiest families in the city began to construct luxurious
small palaces that enormously increased the land value in the area.
With the passing years, and mostly in the second part of the 20th
Century, Paseo de la Reforma witnessed the disappearance of these
constructions: they were being replaced by modern office buildings
and luxury hotels, which transformed the area into the financial
centre of Mexico City.
Paseo de la Reforma is the most famous avenue in México due to its
profound cultural significance, fueled by the history of the avenue
itself and the monuments that stand along it; like the Monument to
Christopher Columbus, the Monument to Cuauhtémoc and the Fountain of
Diana the Huntress, in addition to the already mentioned Angel of
Independence. Also by the fact that this avenue houses world-class
hotels, the main financial groups in México and Latin America, and
some of the most representative buildings of México City, like the
Mexican Stock-Market and the Torre Mayor, the highest building in
Latinamerica.
Places of interest in this area:
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