Architecture

Architectural works in varying styles were built in the city during the pre Hispanic, colonial and modern eras. The period of the Spanish colony was when sober, baroque style mansions, palaces and sumptuous churches were built, and some of the houses belonging to famous counts and marquises were decorated with carvings and ornaments that reflected their owners’ social status.

After the country gained its independence, the neoclassic style took over and changed the look of many of the buildings, thus giving the city an air of elegance. A case in question is the Palacio de Minería (The Mining Palace) and the current Museo Nacional de Arte (The National Art Museum). A "Frenchified" architectural style and (a short time later) art deco came into fashion in the new Roma and Juárez residential districts during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz,  enriching the city center with such buildings as the Palacio de Bellas Artes (The Palace of Fine Arts) and the Post Office building.