History
Zona Rosa began to be developed along with the rest of Colonia Juárez in the mid-19th century; however, it has always had an independent identity. Originally the area was called “La Teja”, then “La Zona Americana” or “Colonia Americana”, as presidents from Benito Juárez to Porfirio Díaz promoted it for foreign investment and residency up until the early 20th century. The area also attracted Mexico City’s elite who were looking to escape the city center. During this time, the area was filled with cafes, pastry shops, and a number of green areas designed to create a European atmosphere. For this reason the streets were named after European cities such as Hamburg (Hamburgo), London (Londres), Copenhagen (Copenhague), Nice (Niza), and Liverpool. The Mexican Revolution put an end to the building here and the initial mansions remained, but many were abandoned.
Nevertheless, the area remained one of the more glamorous zones for most of the 20th century. Expensive cafes and restaurants, art galleries, and jewelry stores continued to attract wealthy residents, although on a reduced scale.
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“Like their personal lives, women’s history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)
“In nature, all is useful, all is beautiful. It is therefore beautiful, because it is alive, moving, reproductive; it is therefore useful, because it is symmetrical and fair. Beauty will not come at the call of a legislature, nor will it repeat in England or America its history in Greece. It will come, as always, unannounced, and spring up between the feet of brave and earnest men.”
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“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
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