Coyoacán

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Location of Coyoacán within the Mexican Federal District
Location of Coyoacán within the Mexican Federal District
Jardín Centenario with the fountain depicting the drinking coyotes that gave the town its name
Jardín Centenario with the fountain depicting the drinking coyotes that gave the town its name
Plaza Hidalgo
Plaza Hidalgo

Coyoacán is one of the 16 delegaciones (boroughs) into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. Coyoacán also is commonly used to refer to the neighborhood at the heart of the borough. The name Coyoacán comes from Nahuatl Coyohuacan, meaning "place where they have coyotes".

Although geographically located in the center of the Distrito Federal, Coyoacán has long been considered to be at the southern end of Mexico City. As the southernmost boroughs of the city, especially Xochimilco and Tlalpan, have begun to grow, the view of Coyoacán as the south end of the city may begin to change.

In pre-Columbian times, Coyoacán was a town of its own and a major center of trade on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco. After the Spanish conquest, Hernán Cortés made his residence there.

It remained a separate town until 1950, when it was swallowed up by the burgeoning conurbation of Mexico City. Centered on two busy squares, Plaza Hidalgo (the district's main square) and Jardín Centenario, today's Coyoacán is known as an upper-middle-class suburb, with a lively bohemian and artistic culture.

An important street in Coyoacán is Francisco Sosa, beginning at Avenida Universidad and ending in Coyoacán's main square. This street features large houses with beautiful colonial architecture, and is also lined with bookstores, cafés, and clubs. The Italian Institute of Culture "Instituto Italiano di Cultura" is located on this street at number 77.

It was home to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and also to Leon Trotsky (Лeв Трóцкий), and the houses they lived in are now both museums. It is served by Metro lines 2 (Metro General Anaya) and 3 (Metro Coyoacán and Metro Viveros).

Coyoacán is a Sister City of Arlington County, Virginia, USA.

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[edit] Coyoacán Downtown through time

Soon after Coyoacán was absorbed by Mexico City in the 40's until the 60's it became a semi-popular place for middle-high and high classes due to its tranquility and because it still kept the colonial flavour not only in its buildings, but also in its businesses, transport, costumes and people. It was something similar to Mexico City's downtown but in a smaller version and without the large masses of people. In those decades it had elegant restaurants, cantinas (bars), a movie cinema, and cafés among other places. People who went there often went well dressed as it was a fashion to go there among certain social circles.

In the 70's through 90's it eventually lost the caché that characterized it and became just a normal residential zone in the city with beautiful squares and churches. The museums were renovated and it began getting frequented by families of all social levels, mainly on weekends. There they found street shows (storytellers, mimes, clowns, etc.), restaurants, parks, and museums where they could spend the day. Artistic painters began going there on weekends to exhibit their works and sell them to the ones interested. During this time Coyoacán acquired a cultural and artistic mood, which later became Coyoacán's slogan: "Coyoacán es cultura" (Coyoacán is culture). All this made Coyoacán become a touristic place.

During the 90's it began being visited by alternative groups of people like bohemians, hippies, street musicians, philosophers, backpackers, punks, etc. who were in search of relaxed and non-mainstream social places to gather, so they began having an important presence in Coyoacán. Street markets and stands were placed or improved and a lot of bars and restaurants were opened.

Afterwards, in the early 2000's, the increasing number of bars, pubs and bigger markets, among other changes, attracted the mainstream pop society of Mexico City to Coyoacán. The once peaceful streets suddenly became crowded with groups of teenagers and young adults looking for places to drink beer or coffee, or just to wander around in the markets. Coyoacán became a common destination for many people all around the city looking for fun on weekends. However, this unusual quantity of people (mainly on weekends) has caused traffic and parking problems, contamination in the streets, presence of more drunk and homeless people, presence of franeleros (people charging money to let drivers park their cars), and an uncontrolled growth of informal commerce spread over the squares and streets. These conflicts have caused some areas in Coyoacán to crumble. However, the cultural and artistic mood of Coyoacán is still present and still is one of the preferred touristic places in the city.

[edit] Notable people/residents

[edit] Notable places

[edit] External links

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Boroughs (Delegaciones) of the Mexican Federal District

Coordinates: 19°20′58″N, 99°09′42″W