6 Best Sights in Centro Histórico, Mexico City

The Cultural Center of Spain is an art space, restaurant, and bar in the heart of the neighborhood, just steps away from the Cathedral and the Templo Mayor and with beautiful views of both from its open-air rooftop. It was built in an area that Hernán Cortés himself assigned to his butler, Diego de Soto, though the land changed hands many times and the current building was constructed in the 18th century, well after the years of Cortés. Temporary exhibits housed in the seven exhibition rooms often highlight young artists and showcase current artistic trends. While the exhibitions are worth a look, there are also conferences and workshops held on a nearly daily basis for anyone interested in art and culture. The rooftop bar, which hosts frequent live music events, is one of the neighborhood's better-kept secrets, with a balcony opening directly onto the Cathedral's magnificent dome and buttresses: easily one of the area's best views. Check out the center's website for listings.

One of the more disorienting buildings in Centro, the Ex-Teresa was first established in 1616 as a Carmelite convent and now runs as a contemporary art space. The convent was shut down after 250 years, but the space reopened in its current iteration in 1993. The two primary chapels lean precariously against one another, unsettled by centuries of seismic activity and resulting in a gravity-warping physical experience when you step inside. The space transforms dramatically with each new installation, but its vertigo-inducing power is constant.

The building that now houses the Museum of the Photography Archive is one of the oldest on the Zócalo, first built in the late 16th century as part of the property of the Nava Chávez family, founded by the canon priest Pedro Nava Chávez and passed down through his niece, Catalina de Nava. Decorated in a neo-Moorish style popular in Mexico's colonial period, the house became famous in 2006 when archaeologists uncovered a monolithic statue of the goddess Tlaltecuhtli under its floors. That same year, the building opened its doors for regular photography exhibitions, often focused on the work of Mexico's finest photojournalists.

Found within the refurbished Santa Inés convent, this inviting museum displays international modern art as well as work by Mexico's enfant terrible, José Luis Cuevas, one of the country's best-known modern artists (1934–2017). The highlight is the sensational La Giganta (The Giantess), Cuevas's eight-ton bronze sculpture in the central patio. It represents male-female duality and pays homage to Charles Baudelaire's poem of the same name. Up-and-coming Latin American artists appear in temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

This museum with a big gift shop (or shop with a small museum) and café features small expositions of contemporary Mexican design. The goals of the museum are to provide a space for design, to assist local designers, and to offer a location in which designers can make money from their craft. Exhibitions, open only through guided tours in Spanish every half hour from 10 am to 8 pm, are shown in a back room made of brick, where you can see the old archways from Cortés's patio, which was built, in part, on top of Moctezuma's pyramid. The shop is open to the public.

The collections of the National Art Museum occupy one of Centro's most impressive neoclassical buildings, designed by Italian architect Silvio Contri in the early 20th century. The works in the permanent collection, organized in galleries around a gracious open patio and grand central staircase, span nearly every school of Mexican art, with a concentration on work produced between 1810 and 1950. José María Velasco's Vista del Valle de México desde el Cerro de Santa Isabel (View of the Valley of Mexico from the Hill of Santa Isabel) is on display; the collection also includes artists such as Diego Rivera and Ramón Cano Manilla. Keep an eye out for temporary exhibitions of works by Mexican and international masters.