Explore Coyoacán Neighborhood

To really get to know Coyoacán, you have to start on Francisco Sosa street, previously known as Calle Real (“Royal Street”). On the corner of Universidad avenue is the small Capilla de Panzacola with its semicircular apse that is reminiscent of medieval towers on European castles. Continuing down Francisco Sosa, you come to the residences of Miguel Ángel de Quevedo, Venustiano Carranza, and Octavio Paz, which has now become the Fonoteca Nacional (National Sound Archive). The trolley also runs down this street. Close by is the Plaza de Santa Catarina square and the Capilla de Santa Catarina de Siena chapel. Across from this chapel, a vast estate holds the Casa de la Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles (Jesús Reyes Heroles Cultural Center).

Three more buildings make up the last stretch of the former Calle Real: the Instituto Italiano de Cultura (Italian Cultural Institute), Casa de Francisco Sosa (Francisco Sosa home), and Casa de Diego de Ordaz (Diego de Ordaz home), which many residents of Coyoacán consider the neighborhood’s most beautiful house.

In downtown Coyoacán sits the Jardín Centenario park, Parroquia de San Juan Bautista church, Jardín Hidalgo park, and Casa de Hernán Cortés (Hernán Cortés home). If you head down Higuera street, at the end you’ll find the Casa Roja (“Red House”), also called the Casa de la Malinche, whose facade is adorned with ajaraca patterns. Across the way is Plaza de la Conchita, one of Coyaocán’s most inviting squares.

Several museums can round out the outing, such as the Museo Frida Kahlo Casa Azul (Blue House Frida Kahlo Museum), Museo Nacional de la Acuarela (National Watercolor Museum), and the Museo Nacional de las Culturas Populares (National Museum of Popular Cultures).