Metro Tlatelolco

The important thing about Metro Tlatelolco, for international visitors anyway, is that because it’s central for residents, it’s a bit far from everything else.

Upon arrival, you’re actually midway between Plaza de las Tres Culturas and the Insignia Tower. Alas, this is not a bad place to be.

Metro Tlatelelco opened in November of 1970, not long after the overall Tlatelolco housing complex. While the station symbol depicts the Insignia Tower, that’s to the west within the development, and you can just as well head east to the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. There’s a complete guide to sites and points of interest here. 

In any case,  even a short walk through the neighborhood should give you a strong idea of the place, it’s history, it’s value to the city overall. It’s fascinating mirror to a century that peaked, saw tragedy, recovered or tried to recover, and always kept on fighting.

Tlatelolco may well be a meditation on Faust, Marx, and Robert Moses. It’s a meditation on us as well, and getting there by Metro still seems like the most appropriate introduction. To its people, to its past, and to its present; Tlatelolco is always more than buildings and land. It’s a tragedy and hundreds of intermittent and personal victories, poured into concrete and uncovered in its stones.