Federal District Buildings - Original Town Hall

Original Town Hall

The first local authority in New Spain was the ayuntamiento (district council) of Villa Rica in Veracruz, established where Hernán Cortés came ashore in the early 16th century. This governing council was moved to Coyoacán, near Mexico City after the fall of the Aztec city Tenochtitlan. The ayuntamiento was moved here after the first town hall was built between 1526 and 1532, with the first recorded council meeting here in 1526. It was built as a fortress against the Indians, who were forbidden to settle in the area. It had a large meeting room, a scrivener's room to keep records, another for accounting, and audience hall, a chapel and a sacristy. This building also housed a government-controlled butchers and granary Since then, the governing body and building have gone by several names including the "Casas Consistoriales", the "Casas de Cabildos", the "Palacio de Diputación", the "Sala de Cabildos" and the "Consejo Consultivo de la Ciudad." The building was expanded in 1582.

In 1582, a jail was added, the first such in New Spain. Other functions were added to the building such as a coin-making facility, a foundry and residences. This building was destroyed, along with the National Palace in the famine uprising in 1692 . As the building burned, its archives were saved by Carlos de Sigüenza who, with the help of friends and paid servants threw them out of the windows as the building burned, saving records going back to 1524 In 1714, viceroy Fernando de Alencastre, 1st Duke of Linares ordered the building reconstructed. Work began in 1720 under viceroy Baltasar de Zúñiga, 1st Duke of Arión, who managed to have the portals built. The rest of the building was completed in 1724 under viceroy Juan de Acuña, marqués de Casafuerte. The official corn and meat markets located here were abolished and the free market was allowed to take control of these commodities. This resulted in a bustling market in what was the Alley of the Diputación, now 20 de Noviembre. However, these stalls disappeared by 1888.

In 1910, the building was remodeled for the upcoming centennial of Independence by architect Manuel Gorozope and engineer Guillermo Beltrán. The remodeled building was inaugurated on 16 September (independence day) 1910. However, remodeling work went on from 1912 to 1930 with the addition of the main staircase, the library and the archives, even though work was periodically halted because of the Mexican Revolution. In 1921, another floor was added as well as square towers on the corners on both sides of the main facade. This front facade has talavera tile murals with the coats of arms of Coyoacán, where the ayuntamiento was before here, of the founding of Mexico City, of Christopher Columbus, of Hernan Cortes, of Mexico City as authorized by Charles V and of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. In some places, some of the foundations of the original building can still be seen. In 1948, the district council was moved from here to the new building built next door, but was moved back here in 1997.

The exterior of the building is topped by two square corner towers each containing three small arches, whose balustrade s appear to spill over the pediments and the eagles that overlook the Zocalo.

The interior has large powerful arches, with richly-decorated moulding at the main entrance. These lead to a double arcade covering a monumental staircase created by architect Alvaro Aburto. On each side of the stairwell are two patios surrounded by arches and columns. The left patio is done in Venetian-style mosaics with images fruits and vegetables as well as large pitchers. The right side patio is home to the Salon de Cabildos, which was recently restored and open for public viewing. This was the place where the city council traditionally convened to settle local disputes. The entry hall to the Salon contains a gallery of portraits of all 62 Spanish viceroys.