Chapultepec Castle

Castillo de Chapultepec is located on the summit of Chapultepec ( "locusts hill " in Nahuatl ) in the west of Mexico City. Today's appearance is mainly due to transformations during the Second Empire.

History

Even before the conquest of the Aztec empire by Hernán Cortés, it was at the foot of the mountain a palace, which was destroyed by the Spaniards. 1784 Viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez let y Madrid to build a summer residence. 1806, the castle was acquired by the City of Mexico. During the Revolutionary War, the building was abandoned and was until 1833 a new use is supplied as a military academy and rebuilt it. In the Mexican-American War of 1847, the castle was attacked, the resistance of the cadets in the Battle of Chapultepec is today honored in Mexico.

Imperial residence

In 1864, Emperor Maximilian the castle imperial residence remodel. The expansion plans of his court architect Carl Kayser Gangolf a large expansion in the medieval style but have not been implemented. Some rooms with original furniture Maximilians have survived. The castle was then still outside the city. Maximilian ordered the construction of a perfectly straight Boulevard of the imperial residence to the city center combined. In honor of Empress Carlotta of Paseo de la Emperatriz was named. After restoration of the Republic 1867 Boulevard in Paseo de la Reforma was renamed.

Today

After the fall of the Second Empire, the castle was used by the President of Mexico as the official seat of government. Since 1944, the castle houses the " Museo Nacional de Historia ."