Casa de Cultura de Tamaulipas

The Casa de Cultura de Tamaulipas is a cultural and community center in the west of the Centro Histórico, It’s just across the street from the Parque de la Ciudadela and the Ciudadela Artisan Market. Today the center is especially used for local cultural events, especially music and book-related events, aimed at the City’s considerable Tamaulipas community.

In fact, it was residents of Mexico City originally from Tamaulipas, in Mexico’s northeast, who created and funded the Casa. The house was actually moved, brick by brick, from a spot on today’s calle Venustiano Carranza, just across Eje Central. That street was widened in the 1940s. And beginning in 1959, it was partially re-assembled here under the direction of architect Vicente Urquiaga y Rivas. It then stood partly abandoned for more than 30 years. Tamaulipas residents expressed an interest in restoring the property. With help from the Federal government, they got their cultural center up and running in 1998 when it officially opened.

The building dates from the mid-18th century. It was continually occupied until the 1940s when a descendent of the Marquis donated it and paid to have it moved and mostly rebuilt. It had long been known as the Casa de la Marquis de Guadalupe, and as the Casa de Captain Zulueta. Some historians have attributed the home to the Marquis de San Miguel de Aguayo, most likely referring to José María de Valdivieso y Vidal de Lorca (1787-1836). He was one of the signatories of the 1821 Plan of Iguala (which ended Mexico’s colonial relationship with Spain), and a high official under Agustín de Iturbide.

The Patronato de la Casa de Cultura de Tamaulipas took over the site in 1995. With four multi-purpose rooms and a central courtyard the site today hosts conferences, exhibitions, book presentations, training courses and other cultural activities.