Houses of the Mayorazgo de Guerrero facts for kids
The Houses of the Mayorazgo de Guerrero are two old, important buildings in Mexico City. You can find them at 16 and 18 Moneda Street, right across from the Museum of Cultures. They are in the historic center of the city.
These two buildings look almost exactly alike. Both have red tezontle stone walls with white stone details. The Guerrero family started these houses in the 1500s. They owned them throughout the time Spain ruled Mexico. The buildings you see today were rebuilt in the late 1700s. After Mexico became independent, the family slowly lost ownership. The main house was used for different public things, and the smaller house became apartments and shops.
History of the Houses
The two houses were first built in the 1500s. King Felipe II of Spain gave the land to Juan Guerrero de Luna and his wife, Beatriz Gomez Davila. Their family kept the land and houses for a long time. The buildings we see now were rebuilt around the late 1700s. This work was done by an architect named Francisco Antonio Guerrero y Torres.
The house on the west side was where the family lived. The house on the east side was for their staff and for storage. Parts of this eastern house were also rented out to merchants. Even though the two buildings look similar, the western house has more special features.
By the late 1800s, the eastern house (the one for staff) had already been turned into apartments and stores. The famous artist José Guadalupe Posada lived and worked in this building. He was there from the late 1800s until he passed away in 1913. Living here helped him see the daily lives of regular people. This often showed up in his artwork from that time.
In 1914, the main house became the home of the National Conservatory of Music of Mexico. It stayed there for about thirty years. The house was big for a home, but it was a bit small for a school. The only place they could put a basketball court was in one of the two inner courtyards. In 1933, the artist Rufino Tamaño painted a special wall painting (fresco) here. It was dedicated to music, especially singing, for the Conservatory. Today, the Conservatory is in the Polanco neighborhood.
In the 1980s, the main house was used by a part of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia that studies old history. The staff building still had shops and apartments. Today, the main building belongs to the Secretariat of Public Education. The staff building is still used by people living there and by shopkeepers.
What the Houses Look Like
The main house does not have as many fancy details as some other famous homes, like the Palace of Iturbide. But it still has many interesting parts. This building has two floors. It also has a special low wall (called a parapet) at one corner.
The outside walls are made of tezontle. This is a red, porous stone that comes from volcanoes. The windows, balconies, doorways, and the bottom parts of the building are made of chiluca. This is a grayish-white stone. Many of the carvings on the building, especially on the parapet, honor the Virgin Mary. Her image appears there. The corner columns (called pilasters) have carvings of lilies and roses. These flowers are often linked to her.
On the upper floor, there are two square areas. One has a fountain, and the other has a well. The parapet has a small alcove with an image of the Virgin. On each side of her are two special columns called estipite. These columns look like upside-down pyramids. They have capitals (the top parts) that look like acanthus leaves. This style was common in religious buildings from the Counter Reformation period. It suggests ideas of forever and the glory of the Virgin Mary. The parapet also has a design of an ivory tower and a palm tree. These are framed by detailed Baroque decorations.
Inside, the building has two courtyards. Each courtyard has its own entrance from the street. There is also a doorway that connects the two courtyards. In the main stairwell, you can see the fresco painted by Rufino Tamaño in 1933. It is all about music.
The Houses of the Sun and Moon
The most special decoration of the house is on the outside. It gives the house another name: "Houses of the Sun and Moon." These are carvings of the sun and the moon. They are on the corner where Moneda and Correo Mayor Streets meet. These images also refer to the Virgin Mary. People say she is "as beautiful as the moon and as bright as the sun."
However, these images and the names of the family have also led to a famous legend about how they got there. The legend says there was a viceroy who loved to throw big parties. He would invite the most important families of New Spain (old Mexico). This viceroy gave a beautiful mansion to Doña Sol de Olmedo. She was the wife of Don Enrique de Luna. The mansion was very close to the Viceroy's Palace. The viceroy gave it to her as a thank you for their friendship.
Don Enrique de Luna became very jealous about this gift. According to the story, he had the mansion completely torn down to its very foundations. Then, he built a new, even more beautiful house there for his wife. To show her that their names would always be together, he had the carvings of the sun ("sol" means sun) and moon ("luna" means moon) placed on the corner where the two main parts of the house meet. This action made the viceroy end his friendship with the couple forever.
See also
In Spanish: Casas del Mayorazgo de Guerrero para niños
