A Stroll Around Villa Coyoacan, Mexico City, Mexico

Some ten kilometres or so south of the centre of Mexico City lies historic Villa Coyoacán. Today it is a picturesque corner of the wider conurbation but was once a village in its own right. It was founded by the Tepecana people on the shores of Lake Texcoco, a huge lake now largely drained, its area occupied by Mexico City.

When the Spanish came the Tepecana allied themselves with the invaders in a shared battle against the Aztecs. Consequently Coyoacán was made the first capital of New Spain for a brief period from 1521 to 1523.

Today its cobbled streets and pretty colonial buildings make it a favourite weekend outing for city-dwellers. But on the weekday morning when we visited there were more tourists than locals. Like us they were drawn here primarily by the town’s major sight, the former home of artist Frida Kahlo, now one of the top attractions in the country. I will take you there one day soon, but for today want to focus on the compact town centre itself. A stroll around will make a pleasant Monday Walk for Jo, I hope.

But first we need to get there! Thanks to the chaos that is Mexico City traffic, the drive with guide Alfonso (who had taken us to Teotihuacan the previous day) took an hour and 45 minutes. That’s probably almost double what it would have done if the traffic had been moving freely. But we enjoyed the journey as there was always something to see, even Bart Simpson driving a truck! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).