Casa de Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles

The Casa de Cultura Jesús Reyes Heroles is a historic cultural and community center in Coyoacán. A historic building, the northern façade offers a back drop to the famous Plaza Santa Catarina. It’s so big though, some strollers don’t even realize there’s a full cultural center just beyond.

Jesús Reyes Heroles House of Culture dates from 1985 soon after the death of the center’s namesake.

• Jesús Reyes Heroles (1921-1985) was an intellectual and political leader. His published work is said to have significantly affected political discourse across 20th-century Mexico. He’s often credited with having conceived of the post-Revolutionary Mexican State. The author of “El Liberalismo Mexicano,” the book is considered a classic of the mid-century. General Director of the Mexican Social Security Institute, he was also General Director of PEMEX and the creator of the Mexican Petroleum Institute. He also served as the Secretary of Governance (Gobernación) and of Public Education.

The building dates from the 18th century. According to legend, it was either a mill or a paper factory. The first recorded owner was Juan Rubín de Celis at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Thereafter, it was the home of the Espinoza de los Monteros family. They held the deed until 1912, when the Armida family purchased it. The Armidas seriously expanded the original home in the 1940s and their descendents held onto the property until the early 1980s.

At that point, the house was sold to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The party briefly used it as a campaign office and then donated it for the creation of a cultural center. The House of Culture opened in September of 1985 using the name of Heroles who’d died the previous spring.

The architectural setting recalls the original structure, said to date from as early as 1780. With extensive gardens, there are a number of notable sculptures. A work depicting Frida and Diego by Juan Carlos Peña stands out, but the gardens are dominated by a monument to Reyes Heroles.

With conference rooms and exhibition halls, the Casa de Cultura is probably best known for musical concerts, recitals, and dance presentations. The center also hosts conferences, book presentations, and classes in the arts, music, dance, literature and meditation.