National Palace (Mexico)

The National Palace (Spanish: Palacio Nacional) is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. Since 2018 it has also served as the official residence for the President of Mexico. It is located on Mexico City's main square, the Plaza de la Constitución (El Zócalo). This site has been a palace for the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec Empire, and much of the current palace's building materials are from the original one that belonged to the 16th-century leader Moctezuma II.

National Palace

Palace of the Viceroy
Palacio Imperial

Baroque

Mexico City, Mexico

1522

Current complex[edit]

Used and classified as a government building, the National Palace, with its red tezontle facade,^[1] fills the entire east side of the Zócalo,^[2] measuring over 200 metres (660 ft) long.^[3] It is home to some of the offices of both the Federal Treasury and the National Archives.^[2]

History of the building[edit]

Moctezuma's "New Houses"[edit]

The site and much of the building material of the current building is of what were called Moctezuma II's "New Houses". This palace functioned as the Aztec tlatoani's residence and performed a number of official functions as well. The building was divided into two sections and decorated with marble and painted stucco. The main façade contained the shield of the monarchy, an eagle with a snake in its claws. It has three patios surrounded by porticos, indoor sanitary facilities, fountains and gardens. The bedrooms had tapestries of cotton, feathers and rabbit fur painted in bright colors. The floors were of polished stucco and covered in animal furs and finely-woven mats. There were rooms for servants, administrative staff, and military guards, along with kitchens, pantries and storage rooms. The richness of the palace surprised Cortés, which he relayed in letters to Charles I of Spain.^[5]

The palace also held a chamber reserved for the "tlacxitlan" where a group of elders, presided over by the emperor himself, would settle disputes among the citizenry. After the Conquest, these New Houses were not completely leveled to the ground but were sufficiently destroyed as to make them uninhabitable.^[5]

Cats[edit]

Feral cats have been recorded to have been inhabiting the palace gardens since the 1970s, with 19 cats in residence as of 2024. In April that same year, President Andres Manuel López Obrador declared the cats to be “living fixed assets,” the first time animals in Mexico have been awarded the title. The measure, which is normally granted to tangible objects, requires the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit to provide permanent food and care for them in their lifetimes. One cat, Zeus, became famous for appearing on-camera during a press conference by López Obrador in 2023.^[22]