The cultural crown jewel of the forest is the Fourth Section of the Chapultepec Forest, a large polygon that for much of the 20th century belonged to the Secretariat of National Defense and was handed over for ecological conservation and public enjoyment. Disembarking at this station brings the visitor into an avant-garde campus designed to democratize art. Here stands the imposing Cineteca Nacional Chapultepec, a modern venue surrounded by green meadows that revolutionizes the consumption of the seventh art with state-of-the-art projection rooms and a tree-lined open-air forum.
A few meters from the movie screens, the architectural complex unfolds the National Art Vault (Bodega Nacional de Arte), a top-tier facility conceived for the conservation, restoration, and safeguarding of the country’s invaluable visual arts collection. This space allows the public and specialists to interact with artistic preservation processes, breaking the traditional museum mold to show the inner workings of heritage care in an environment surrounded by nature and contemporary design.
The station’s richness is multiplied by the presence of the former Gunpowder Factory (ex Fábrica de Pólvora), an expansive 19th-century industrial complex that manufactured munitions for the army. Today, after careful rehabilitation, it offers its red-brick warehouses and high ceilings as stages for exhibitions, workshops, and cultural activities. Walking through its halls is to witness how the martial vocation of the past has transformed into an engine of peace and artistic creation.
The area jealously guards the Ermita Vasco de Quiroga, an original 16th-century building. This venue was meticulously restored to preserve the memory of the ancient springs that, since time immemorial, supplied fresh water to the nascent New Spanish city. Its modest and serene presence contrasts wonderfully with the grand display of modern infrastructure surrounding it.
As a whole, the Cineteca, the Bodega, the ex-Fábrica, and the Ermita form an ecosystem where audiovisual technology, industrial heritage, visual arts, and viceregal history converge. The station is a complete tourist destination that requires several hours to be fully explored, thoroughly justifying the journey toward the western edge of the forest.
Nearest at 0.30 kms.
Nearest at 0.50 kms.
Nearest at 0.59 kms.
