It has a European Air to it
Ampere, Jean Jacques (1825)

"At long last, we entered the city. It is astounding to encounter, two thousand leagues distant from Europe, and at an altitude of seven thousand feet above sea level, a city of a hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants with a distinctly European air to it; to find, at this far-flung corner of the world, such historic vestiges - and what vestiges they are - recording a feat so extraordinary that no other compares to it for sheer audacity.

The initial impression of Mexico City is not quite as disconcerting as I had foreseen. The city is actually less characteristic, has less of a Spanish veneer to it, than does the city of Puebla. But after the long, wide roads which traverse the length and breadth of the city have been navigated, and once the multicolored cupolas of convents and churches have been seen and admired, the real enchantment of this far-off, unique city can finally be felt; a city which is reached only after traveling the entire length of the road which leads from the torrid climes of Veracruz, climbing up through successive levels of vegetation and which, by the time it reaches the plateau by the inn at Monte San Bernardo, is at an altitude graced by a deliciously temperate sky. Tonight the temperature has been admirable; the moon bathes the wide avenues of Mexico City, and the central square looms huge. To either side it is bordered by lofty portals; in front of me stands the Cathedral and behind, a row of trees; the Presidential palace and the buildings of the two Chambers stretch out to my right like a long white sash. Unfortunately all these buildings, even the Cathedral, seem not quite tall enough for the dimensions of the square, one of the broadest and most capacious plazas in the world. The enchantment of this late hour is apparent in the immensity of the celestial vault that the eye beholds.

After nine oíclock at night the square empties and the roads become deserted. Few pedestrians are about, and only an occasional carriage passes by in the distance to remind us that we are in a sleeping, silent, capital; it seems as if the city is concentrating on its past memories while preparing for the future, for through this plaza have passed the industrious conquerors from the north, who already know the way and who may, still yet, return."

From: Viajes en México. Crónicas extranjeras.
Secretaría de Obras Públicas, México, 1964.