The Zocalo is a massive concrete area signed with a giant flag. The former the Merchants' arcade on the west side has cafés and even a traditional hat shop!

Inside the underground Zocalo station you will find excellent historical reproductions of the Square.Artifacts unearthed from the ruins of this double Mexica temple can be seen in the Templo Mayor and in its adjacent museum. This museum houses impressive exhibits of ceremonial offerings, as well as the massive stone representation of the goddess Coyolxauhqui discovered here, and also displays a number of scale models of the former ceremonial center.

The Cathedral and its Vestry synthesize the art of New Spain. Through its imposing sun-bathed baroque and neoclassical facade the visitor enters the ethereal half-light of this holy site, with its five separate naves, its chapels and its religious paintings. The Altar of Forgiveness, the sacristy, and the Altar of Kings are all outstanding. The religious ceremonies are performed with the full dignity of the Catholic faith, choirs and organs. The City's soft clay subsoil, excessive water explotation, has propitiated the gradual sinking of many buildings such as the Cathedral. Restoration works, partially visible, have prevented its collapse.

To the East side of the plaza stands the Palacio Nacional, a group of buildings erected as the seat of civil power from the days of the Viceroyalty until the present. Its interior has several patios, corridors, and stairways graced by impressive murals by Diego Rivera whose symbolism depicts, in great detail, key episodes of Mexico's history.