Mexico City Reforma, Mexico City

Considered the most important avenues in Mexico City, Paseo de la Reforma or Promenade of Reforma was built in the decade of 1860 during the presence in the country of the emperor Maximilian I. This 12 km. street goes from Chapultepec Castle through the Pink Zone, to the square of the Constitution or Zocalo. It goes on to the northeast until the Basilica of Guadalupe and to the west it passes by the neighborhood of Polanco towards the city limits. Embassies, hotels, major company buildings, museums, and urban details characterize this beautiful and historical communication route.

Originally, Paseo de la Reforma was named The Empress Avenue in honor to Maximilian´s wife, Charlotte. During Porfirio Diaz dictatorship, the avenue became more elegant with benches, trees, and other urban details since Diaz decided to commemorate the first hundred years of the beginning of the war for independence in 1910. It was for this reason that diverse buildings and monuments were built, like the column of the Angel of the Independence, which was inaugurated by that year.

Extremely rich elite families during Diaz regime contributed to the architecture of the avenue, from which very little remains.

Today Reforma Avenue is flanked by modern buildings with different styles, from Art Deco to functionalist to contemporary. On Reforma Avenue you can find embassies, governmental offices, private banks, hotels, companies or the Mexican stock market.

The tallest building in Latin America, the Torre Mayor, is on Reforma Avenue. Monuments to Columbus, Cuauhtemoc or the Diana Arrow Thrower decorate the promenade.

The National Museum of Anthropology, the Modern Art Museum, The Chapultepec Park and Zoo, and the Tamayo Contemporary Art Museum are found here too.

The 2003 renewal project has brought life to Reforma Avenue. Since then, the real state business as well as the tourist attraction character of the zone have experienced a rebirthing.

Excellent restaurants, theaters, open air cafes along with new shopping malls, luxurious hotels, and dwellings in different sections of the Avenue count for the revitalized ambiance of Mexico´s city most important avenue. Undoubtedly, a visit to Paseo de la Reforma must be included when coming to this city.