Behind the Blanquita Theater, in the neighborhood of Guerrero, you’ll find the Mercado 2 de abril. It’s significant because it’s the first of the public markets you’ll now find all over the city. It’s also a very good place for lunch!
True, the Merced Market is older, but the Merced is really more properly called a neighborhood. True it was a neighborhood crammed with vendors, many of them spilling out onto the street, but the 2 de Abril market was among the first intended to house all of the vendors of its geographic area and to keep them all under one roof.
When it opened on April 2nd, 1902, it as the first market exclusive to one building but also the last! The next one wouldn’t open until 1937 at the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Market across the way in the Centro Histórico. With around 115 vendors presently housed there, the 2 de abril is still going strong.
The market is named for the date of the victory of the Battle of Puebla, fought against the French invaders, way back in 1867. When the market opened that was still well within the lifetimes of the market’s first patrons. Even more important, the 2 de abril neighborhood had been marked off from the Guerrero neighborhood, just to the north. Porfiro Díaz had designated colonia Guerrero only in 1873. And 2 de abril was to be, now, the rich people’s part of Guerrero. And who was the great hero of the battle of 2 de abril? You guessed it, Porfiro Díaz.
There’s always been speculation, probably because of the market’s “flying iron” design, that Gustave Eiffel must have had something to do with it.
The same speculation, untruthfully, has been batted around with regard to the El Chopo Museum, as Eiffel had in fact spent some time in Mexico prior to the turn of the century. His masterful Palacio de Hiero in Orizaba, is still one of the major attractions in that particular Veracruz city. Closer to home, Eiffel did build a bridge in Ecatepec, and no longer functioning as a bridge, it served briefly as a contemporary art space. Today the bridge is entirely abandoned, even while the Mercado 2 de abril keeps going strong.
0.21 kms.
0.23 kms.
One of Mexico City's most beautiful historic squares, it's a meeting place for booklovers and dealers.
One of Guerrero's most hopeful churches hasn't stopped even after all these years.
An extraordinarily beautiful church hidden in old Cuepopan, today's colonia Guerrero.
A neighborhood strongman finds a painting in the receding waters of the flood of 1580.
Colonia Guerrero's massive contribution to commerce, trade, food, culture, and fun: It's great for lunch too!
Covid19
Comer en la Ciudad de México
Clima
Emergencias