filmtu,v;s. on the north side of the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral, one of the largest and most sumptuous churches in America. rises on the site of the great temple of lluitzilopochtli, the titular god of the Aztecs. The Cathedral, begun in 1573, and dedicated in 1607 at a cost $2.000,060 for the walls alone, forms a Latin 420 feet long and 203 feet. wide, with two great naves, three aisles, twenty side chapels. and a magnificent high altar supported by marble columns and surrounded by a balustrade with sixty-two statues of gold, silver, and copper alloy. The elaborately ezu•ved choir inelosed by tomlute (copper and zinc alloy) railings is valued at $1.500.000. The Dude style of architecture prevails in the interior. and the mixed Thirie and Ionic of the Spanish Renaissance in the exterior, with its five domes and two open towers 2I3 feet high. The latter were not completed until 1791. In addition to the Cathedral, Mexico eontains some sixty churches, among which the finest are La Profess. Loreto. Santa Teresa. Santo Domingo. and San 11 ipOlito. The leading. Protestant denominations are represented by houses of worship, whieh are attended almost wholly by the foreign element of the population.
The east side of the Plaza is occupied by the National Palace. of poor and monotonous arehi teeture. has 075 feet frontage and contains most. of the Government offices, the general archives. and sonic remarkable paintings by Miranda and native artists. NVith its associated buildings this structure occupies an area of 14,000 square meters. The Pethtrio has long been inadequate to the needs of the various depart ments installed within it. and at the present time there are in process of building a new post 0111(4. building and a new \\':n• and Navy building. both steel and stone structures. North of the Na tional Paltice and forming parts of it are the post-offiee and the National Museum of Natural llistory and Antiquities, with a priceless collec tion of Aztec relies, and 'the bones of giants' as they were formerly supposed to be, though now reeotmized as the remains of large animals of the Quaternary epoch. The National Observatory and the Meteorological Bureau are also located here. The Monte de Piedad, the famous national pawnshop of \lexic•o, with nearly $10,000.000 of accumulated fund:, stands close to the Cathedral, and with its liberal management is really a beneficent charity.
Facing the Cathedral is the Palacio Municipal or City Hall, containing the city and Federal District offices. Among other notable buildings is the School of Medicine on the Plaza Santo Domingo, occupying the quarters in which the inquisition made its infamous history; the Church of the Jesuits; the School of Arts, where many branches of industry are taught; the National Picture Gallery of San Carlos, in which the Florentine and Flemish schools are especially well represented; the Na tional Library, formerly the ('hurc•h of San Augustin. with over 200.000 volumes. numerous
manuscripts, and rare old Spanish books; the tint, in which silver and gold have heen coined, since I090, to the value of nearly $3,000.000.000; the lturbide Hotel, and the School of Mines. de signed by the artist Tolsa. one of the finest struc tures in _Slexic•o, with rich mineralogical and geological collections, and containing also the Sehool of Engineering with its observatory. The city abounds with hospitals, for no place takes better care of its sick and infirm than the City of Mexico. One of the curiosities is the little old building in which the first printing in America was done. At the present time 33 daily and 1119 magazines and reviews, in Spanish. Eng lish, French. and German, administer to the in tellectual and artistic life of the capital. The chief of the twenty scientific institutions is the Geographical and Statistical Society, which issues many maps and charts, There are numerous public schools, and many of the sciences and arts are represented by special schools.
Sritmrs AND PARKS. Mexico is said to be the finest built city on the American continent. Some of its thoroughfares, paved with asphalt and lined with houses whose height hears a stria architectural relation to the width of the streets, eertaittly bear out this While many of its 000 streets and lanes are very narrow, especially within the nine square miles that the old walls inclose, still they are laid out with great regularity. The monotony of arrangement of this part is fairly well broken by an oeeasional public square or garden. while beyond the circle of the Walk, and especially to the northwest. the streets have spread with greater irregularity. 'I'hc• main streets running from north to south and from east to west intersvel at the Plaza Ilaym-, familiarly known as the `Zocalo.' These streets are of 'fair width, hut the sidewalks here, as elsewhere. are too narrow to accommo date easily the passers-by. For the customary nude tramway an up-to-date electrie service has been substituted, with the result that the urban population is largely increasing. The principal streets are elect deally lighted. and are clean and well kept.