Plaza de las Tres Culturas

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The Plaza de las Tres Culturas ("Square of the Three Cultures") is the main square within the Tlatelolco neighbourhood of Mexico City.

The square contains the remains of Aztec temples and is flanked by the Catholic church of Santiago Tlatelolco and a massive housing complex built in 1964. The headquarters of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (Mexico's foreign ministry) also stand on the southern edge of the square.

The name "Three Cultures" is in recognition of the three periods of Mexican history reflected by those buildings: pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and the independent "mestizo" nation.

[edit] Notable events

The square was the site of a protest ten days before the 1968 Summer Olympics celebrations were to take place in Mexico City. The protest ended in the Tlatelolco massacre, with police forces shooting protestors and bystanders.

Many buildings around the square suffered structural damage or fell down as a consequence of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.